


Switched Perspectives

by arc852, HiddenDreamer67



Series: Perspective Series [4]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Borrowers Fusion, Borrowers - Freeform, G/T, Giant/Tiny, Infinitesimal Sides, Infinitesimal!Sides, M/M, Multi, Other, Sequel, TINY - Freeform, Tiny Logic | Logan Sanders, Tiny Sides (Sanders Sides), borrower, perspective series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-01-14 14:55:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 43,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18478549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arc852/pseuds/arc852, https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenDreamer67/pseuds/HiddenDreamer67
Summary: This story is a direct sequel to "A Third Perspective"; without that context, this story will make a lot less sense. This is also the fourth work in our series of Perspective-themed Gt Sanders Sides Novels.Everyone is quite confused when Roman and Logan wake up borrower-sized while Virgil and Patton wake up human-sized. What could have caused this change? Will they ever return to their previous sizes? It seems the group has quite a mess on their hands, and it certainly doesn't help that they all left off on bad terms. Yet maybe this is an opportunity for them all to learn a little something about themselves as they see the world from a switched perspective.





	1. You Look Different; Did You Cut Your Hair?

 It was dark.

 That was the first thing Roman noticed when he woke up. Then he shivered and realized it was cold. The fabric atop him felt coarse and unfamiliar.

 “Where am I?” Roman asked aloud, wondering if perhaps someone was in here with him.  _Or something_. Roman shuddered at that intrusive thought, but there was no response to his call. It seemed Roman was alone here.

 Roman got up, pushing the fabric off him and feeling around for some sort of light switch. He felt the wall and began dragging his hand along it to try and feel, well, anything. The texture was strange. Rather than the familiar smooth paint of his apartment, this felt like planks of wood.

 Roman kept walking, trying not to feel uneasy as he guessed at where he might be. Had he been kidnapped? Drugged? But if those things truly happened, why was nobody guarding him?

 Now Roman kept his hand along the wall with the pure intention of not getting lost. Though he could not see his surroundings, the acoustics made it clear that the hall was very long and the ceiling very high. Roman didn’t wish to get turned around in a room so vast.

 Just as he had begun to wonder if perhaps he had gone blind, Roman spotted a light up ahead of him from around the bend. Roman all but sprinted towards it, finding it a bit difficult to keep his footing in whatever shoes were on his feet.

 Unfortunately, the site that awaited him was not at all what Roman expected. Roman blinked, rubbing at his eyes to try and make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.

 What was before him appeared to be the room of a literal  _Giant_. A dresser, desk, and bed all towered high above his head. Roman gasped, realizing that this wasn’t any old giant room. Though it was hard to recognize from this perspective, Roman noticed the familiar details of the furniture. This was his own room!

 “Am I a…borrower?” Roman questioned, timidly stepping out into the light to view his bedroom. Was this what it was like for Virgil and Patton? Was everything truly so big?

 A loud rumbling made Roman’s heart almost stop. Clutching his hand to his chest, Roman turned to see the source of the noise. Though it had shaken him to his core, it seemed as though it was merely the sound of someone snoring. A giant was sleeping in  _his_ bed!

 Roman couldn’t fully see the sleeping form from his view on the floor, but Roman could tell they were massive. The figure also wore Roman’s pajamas as though they were trying to steal Roman’s identity entirely.

 But what exactly could Roman do about it? He was too small now to do anything to stop this gargantuan from doing exactly as they pleased.

 The giant in question shifted, and Roman flinched. He was ready to bolt back into the hole in the wall at a moment’s notice, ready to once again brave the dark if it would save his life. However, the person merely turned over, and Roman was now able to see their face.

 Recognition dawned on Roman’s features. Though he had often seen those facial features on a much,  _much_  smaller scale, Roman could have cried of relief at seeing a familiar face.

 “Virgil!” Roman yelled, running towards the bed and waving his arms above his head.

 Virgil groaned, shifting in bed again, eyebrows furrowed. He couldn’t be sure, it sounded far away, but he thought someone shouted his name? “Hmm…Patton?” He mumbled out, sitting up in bed and opening his eyes.

 Only to immediately close them again at how  _bright_  it was.

 His hands covered his eyes, rubbing at them.  _Why_  was it so bright? He should be in the walls where it was dark, right? They…had escaped last night, hadn’t they? Unless it had all been a dream and he was still trapped with Logan.

 Now that he thought about it, his bed was far too comfortable to be anything he owned at home.

 He forced his eyes open again, getting used to the brightness by blinking and taking in his surroundings.

 He froze.

 …This was definitely a human’s room. No question about that. But, it was  _his size_. The dresser, the desk, everything looked to be human-made and, again,  _his size_. Virgil’s mind raced with panic as his eyes darted around the room. What was happening, was…was he in a dollhouse?

 It was the only explanation. Where else would furniture this human-like be his size? But that meant, that meant last night had been a dream.

_No…_

 Virgil practically threw himself out of bed, heading straight for the window. He took in a deep breath, at least hoping Logan wouldn’t be  _right there_ , and pulled the curtain back.

 He was met with a view of the outside, sunny and bright, with people walking all around. With  _humans_  walking around, but the humans…they didn’t seem as big as usual. “W-What…?”

 Roman’s eyes widened, quickly launching himself to the side to keep from being trampled as Virgil didn’t even notice him. Roman threw himself against the bed frame, chest heaving. He could have  _died_. It would have been an accident (he hoped) but just one false step and… Roman shuddered, feeling a wave of terror threatened to overwhelm him.

 “No way.” Virgil turned back towards the room with a new perspective. Finally seeing what was there all along. This wasn’t a  _dollhouse_ , this was an actual human’s home. An actual bedroom used and owned by a human that  _Virgil_  now fit perfectly. He didn’t know how, but…but he was human-sized now.

 “This…How…?” Virgil found himself walking around the room, taking everything in. He couldn’t decide if this was a good thing or not. It was certainly strange, seeing things normally a hundred times your own height now smaller than you. He ran a hand over the desk, blinking in surprise at how smooth it was. There was clearly wear and tear on it, but he couldn’t feel it.

 “This is weird…” He said out loud.

 Roman took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. Of course, that was difficult when every time Virgil took a step the floor shook and threatened to throw Roman off his feet.

 “V-Virgil!” Roman cried out again, still desperate to get his attention and make all these horrible overwhelming things stop.

 Virgil stopped, hearing the voice once again. He had thought it had been part of his dream, but now it was clear the voice sounded a lot like… “Roman?” He called out, looking around, but not seeing the human anywhere. His eyes glanced towards the door. Could he be out there?

 He walked towards it.

 “Virgil!” Roman yelled louder, only able to look on helplessly as Virgil walked away from him. “Virgil, I’m down here!”

 Virgil stopped again, now it sounded like the voice was  _behind_  him. He turned around and at being told to look down, did so. His mouth fell open and his eyes widened in utter shock as he saw Roman, standing near the bed.

 The size of a borrower. “W-What?”

 Roman could have cried of relief when Virgil finally seemed to notice him, although his body seemed to have a different reaction. As soon as Virgil’s eyes were focused on him, Roman felt incredibly tense. His legs shook as though they were made of jelly, despite the fact his brain was also telling him to  _run_.

 “I must be dreaming,” Virgil muttered, slowly walking towards Roman.

 “I…ah…” Roman found his mouth felt too dry to articulate real words. He pressed himself further into the bed frame, beginning to inch around it as if the leg of the bed would provide some protection from the approaching giant.

 Virgil knelt down about a foot away from Roman, taking in his tiny form. Was that…really how small they were. Was that how humans saw borrowers? Virgil knew he was small, but actually seeing the size difference from the human’s point of view was…well, it was something new altogether.

 “Roman? Is that really you?” He asked, tilting his head. He still wasn’t fully convinced this wasn’t a dream.

 “Y-Yes.” Roman nodded, able to finally find his voice but unable to hide the stutter brought on by nerves.

 “Holy crap.” Virgil rubbed at his eyes, before looking at Roman again. It was then that he noticed the stutter and the very clear fear on Roman’s small face. “H-Hey, it’s okay…” Subconsciously, Virgil reached a hand out for him.

 Roman let out an unmanly yelp, unable to fight his subconscious fear any longer as he bolted under the bed.

 What was he  _doing_? This was Virgil, who was probably just as confused by this whole situation! Roman needed any help he could get to figure this whole mess out. And Virgil was nice, he wasn’t going to hurt Roman.

 Roman paused. No, wait a second, Virgil wasn’t nice. He was sassy, sarcastic, headstrong, and… when Roman had last seen him before this mess, Virgil was  _angry_. Angry at  _him_.

 “Wha-? Hey!” Why was Roman running? He was the one who called Virgil over here after all. Virgil surged forward, sticking his hand under the bed and placing it in front of Roman to stop him. He blinked at how  _easy_  that was. Even though he was big, he found himself seemingly faster than before.

 “Ah!” Roman couldn’t stop himself in time and crashed right into the giant palm that suddenly blocked his path. It felt thick and leathery beneath his own tiny palms. Roman shuddered, quickly backpedaling away from it. Looking around frantically, Roman dashed to the side.

 Seeing the change in direction, it was all too easy to move his hand to once again block his path. But this time, Virgil wrapped his hand around the shrunken human, pulling him out from underneath the bed. Virgil sat up, staring down at Roman with awe.

 He couldn’t believe he had an entire person in his hand. Was this what it felt like for Roman? For Logan? The feeling was unlike anything else he had ever held and a wave of power swept over him. “Whoa…”

 Roman gasped, all the air knocked out of his lungs as he was suddenly caught up in a giant fist. Roman struggled to make more room for himself, but his feeble pushes and kicks did nothing to loosen the iron grip around his body.

 His hands felt clammy as Roman looked up at Virgil, incredibly nervous of the borrower’s…no, the  _human’s_  intentions. What was Virgil going to do to him? Was Virgil still furious? Would he try and seek justice now that the cards were in his favor? Roman liked to think that Virgil wouldn’t  _kill_  him, but… well, if Virgil did, there was nothing Roman could do to stop him.

 Virgil was snapped out of his awe at the feeling of Roman struggling in his hand, and well wasn’t  _that_  a weird feeling, but it reminded him of his own experiences. He was suddenly in Roman’s shoes, fighting against a grip he knew would not let up and Virgil opened his hand like it had burned him.

 “S-Sorry.” He apologized. It was like he had gotten caught up in instincts that were not his own. “Are you okay?”

 Roman paused for breath, looking a bit like a fish out of water as he gasped for air. He knew he probably looked pathetic in Virgil’s hands, but Roman found he was too preoccupied to care about that.

 “I…” Roman struggled to answer the question, not able to look Virgil in the eye. “I’m okay.”

 “You don’t look okay,” Virgil said, seeing clear signs of panic. Virgil bit his lip, before setting Roman down on the bed. Virgil decided to remain on the floor. “There, now just…control your breathing. Like this.” He started to breathe in the familiar 4-7-8 pattern.

 Roman tried to focus on timing his breathing to Virgil’s, rather than focus on how unsteady the bed was beneath his feet or how loud Virgil’s breathing was or his own exhaustion or-

_Breathe in, hold, breathe out._

 Roman closed his eyes, slowly feeling his nerves rejoin his body. This was fine.

 …Well, it was far from fine. But Roman could take comfort in the fact that Virgil was helping him, and didn’t seem to immediately want to murder him on sight. Whatever was happening was scary and confusing, but with the two of them combined surely they could find a solution to bring Roman back to his normal self.

 “Thank you, Virgil,” Roman said, sheepishly rubbing his arm as he sat down cross-legged. “I’m…not sure what came over me.”

 Virgil hummed. “Yeah, course.” Virgil knew all too well what had come over Roman, but he decided to stay quiet on that. “So…do you have  _any_  idea what is going on? Why are you borrower sized and why am I-” He motioned to his body. “-human-sized?!” The moment Virgil held Roman, he knew it wasn’t a dream. He could never dream something that felt  _that_  real.

 “Of course not,” Roman admitted. “Why do you think I came to  _you_? I thought you knew what was going on!”

 “Why would  _I_  know?!” Virgil exclaimed.

 “Well, I don’t know!” Roman threw his arms up in the air. “Maybe it’s some sort of borrower legend or something! You guys have a lot of secrets, it’s not impossible.”

 “Borrower legend,” Virgil repeated, deadpanned. “Yeah, no. Are you sure this isn’t some  _human_  myth?” Virgil asked, glaring at Roman in slight irritation.

 Roman shivered, finding Virgil’s glare a lot more intimidating at this height.

 “I…certainly don’t know of any.” Roman let his arms fall back down, feeling much less passionate about this debate than he had a moment ago.

 “Of course,” Virgil said, rubbing a hand down his face. “Well, this is just great! We’ve basically just switched…sizes…” Virgil blinked, slowly looking down at Roman again as if for the first time. “I’m the human now…” Virgil thought back to the past day, remembering everything Roman had done to him and Patton.

 Roman cautiously got to his feet, now even more aware of how uneven the blanket was. He didn’t like the look on Virgil’s face. Nope, not one bit.

 “Virgil?” Roman attempted to snap Virgil out of this unsettling trance, getting ready to make a run for it once more.

 Virgil blinked, looking at Roman again. Hearing the fear in Roman’s voice…it gave him satisfaction. After everything Roman had done, he deserved to at least feel a little of the fear himself and Patton had.

 Virgil smirked. “What’s the matter? Scared?” Virgil reached out a hand and poked Roman in the side.

 Roman tried to scramble back away from Virgil’s approaching fingers, but tripped over the thick folds of the blanket and landed on his back.

 “C-Cut it out!” Roman felt that familiar wave of terror just below the surface, his heart beginning to pound once more.

 “Did  _you_  cut it out when Patton asked you to?” Virgil shook his head. “In case you’ve forgotten, no, no you didn’t.” Virgil put a single finger on Roman’s chest, pushing down slightly. He couldn’t believe how easy it was to hold Roman down. To stop him from just doing  _anything_. He grit his teeth. Humans had way too much power for their own good. “I’m just returning the favor.”

 _Oh my god, I’m gonna die._  This was the only thought continually running through Roman’s head as he desperately pushed at Virgil’s finger. His finger, for goodness sake! Just one little finger had reduced Roman to a struggling mess, chest painfully heaving as he fought to take even the most shallow of breaths.

 _Virgil’s going to kill me._  Roman’s pushes became even weaker as his strength dwindled, spots beginning to appear in his vision from a lack of enough oxygen. Virgil, someone he had once considered a friend, was going to crush him into a stain on his own giant bedspread. 


	2. A Bruised Ego

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman's not looking so hot and it's Virgil's fault.

Virgil watched Roman squirm and struggle with a smirk, only to frown when he realized the struggles were getting slower, weaker. And his breath was uneven, as if choked. That…that wasn’t supposed to happen.

“Oh shoot!” Eyes going wide, Virgil immediately removed his finger off of Roman’s chest. Instead, he gathered Roman into his open hands, bringing him close to his face to inspect. He had just wanted to scare him, not kill the guy!

“A-Are you okay?” Virgil asked, suddenly very worried.

Roman curled up to the side, assuming the fetal position to try and protect himself from the next attack. His arms clutched around his middle, where he could still feel a phantom of that pressure crushing him. Roman took a series of haggard breaths, each one accompanied by a slight wince. It seemed his ribs were bruised from that abuse. Of course, Roman should probably count himself lucky that none of them were broken.

As air filled his lungs, the spots cleared from his vision only to be replaced by a blur as tears streamed down Roman’s face. He shivered badly, pulling himself into as tight a ball he could manage without making the pain even worse.

“Crap, yeah that was a stupid question.” Virgil figured it would be best to put Roman down, and so did, back onto the bed. He backed away a little, biting his lip as guilt overtook him. “I-I am so sorry Roman…I-I didn’t mean-I only wanted to scare you! Just a little, I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.” Virgil looked down at his hands, it appeared as though he didn’t know his own strength at this size.

Roman winced, slowly pulling himself up so that he could keep an eye on him across the room. Noticing that Virgil was a good distance away and was now looking back to his usual self, Roman felt filled with a fiery rage.

“A _little_?!” Roman screeched, tears still flowing. “Y-you nearly _killed_ me! What the hell is wrong with you!”

Virgil winced. “I’m _sorry_ , but I was just trying to match how scared you made _us_ feel. Do you know how many times we thought _we_  were going to die by your hands? Far too MANY!” Virgil couldn’t help but yell back.

Roman pressed his hands to his ears, trying to prevent his skull from pounding as Virgil’s voice shook him to the core. He ducked his head, feeling fresh tears surface as he began to whimper. The thought of what Virgil would do to him next was absolutely terrifying. How many trials like that would Roman have to survive before Virgil was satisfied?

Virgil dropped his anger when Roman didn’t answer back, instead still looking absolutely terrified. Virgil deflated. “I’m sorry,  _really_. And-And you weren’t that bad…” Virgil said, speaking softly. And it was true, Logan was the one who deserved this the most. And while Virgil still believed Roman deserved a little fear, he definitely didn’t deserve  _this_  much. And he definitely didn’t deserve to be hurt.

“I’m not going to hurt you again…I promise. I am so, so sorry.”

“B-but you’re gonna…you’re gonna…” Roman sobbed into his hands, unable to even properly finish his sentence.

“No, no Roman I’m not. I promise, this was a mistake, I’m sorry.” Virgil sighed, pushing a hand through his hair. “Do you need anything? I can get you something? Bandages? Water?”

Roman felt his tears beginning to dry up despite the fact the tightness in his chest remained. Knowing that if he tried to speak now nothing would come out, Roman merely nodded his head.

“Y-Yeah? Okay good, uh, I’ll-I’ll be right back.” Virgil left the room, before pausing in the middle of the living room.

He had no idea where anything was. Well, this should be fun.

Water would be in the kitchen, so he started there.

Roman gave a heavy sigh, slowly calming down now that Virgil was out of the room. He rubbed at his eyes. They felt red and puffy beneath his palms. Roman glanced down at the borrower hole on the floor, biting his lip. It looked so inviting, but there was no way Roman could get there. The fall from the bed would surely kill him.

Not to mention, where would he even go? Sure, escape from Virgil sounded heavenly right about now, but Roman didn’t know the first thing about being a borrower. He’d probably end up lost in the walls before he even found his way back to the strange borrower bed he woke up in.

After several minutes of running around the house, Virgil rushed back into the bedroom with a pile of stuff in his arms. “O-Okay so I wasn’t exactly sure what to get, but I think this is enough? Maybe? Hopefully?” He placed the stuff on the opposite end of the bed, away from Roman.

Roman looked over at the pile of items, surprised by the assortment Virgil had grabbed.

“W-water?” Roman managed to croak out pathetically, wanting to quench his thirst and heal his scratchy throat first and foremost.

“Water, right, uh…” Virgil took out a glass, moving to give it to Roman before pausing in realization. The glass was way too big for Roman. “Uh…” He looked around, rummaging through the pile he brought. He pulled out a box of foil, thankful he had taken it from the kitchen. He ripped a piece off and carefully tried to form it into a cup. It was much more difficult with his fingers being so big, but he managed well enough. He poured a few drops of water in it before handing it to Roman.

Roman took the makeshift cup in shaking hands, lifting it to his lips. It felt wonderful to have the cool water soothe his aching throat. Roman quickly finished it off, holding the empty container back out towards Virgil.

Virgil took it, setting it off to the side. “Do you need anything else? Bandages? Uh…food?” Virgil asked, as he continued to look through the pile of things he had gotten.

“Do you have any ibuprofen?” Roman said hopefully.

“Uh…” Virgil glanced at the pile. “I…have no idea what that is.”

“It’s medicine.” Roman explained. “There should be some in the bathroom cabinet.”

Virgil thought for a moment. “Okay.” He went to the bathroom, looking all over, but not seeing anything that seemed like what Roman wanted. He came back into the room. “Sorry, it doesn’t look like you have any.”

“Ugh.” Roman groaned, clutching at his sides as his vocal protest only brought about another flare up from his ribs. “Food, then.”

“Right, okay.” Virgil pulled the box of cereal he grabbed out of the pile and dug into it, pulling out a handful. He set it down in front of Roman. “There you go.”

Roman froze, for a moment just staring down at the cereal. Sometimes looking at cheerios the size of your hand can be a bit jarring, even if you already knew you were four inches tall.

 _Four inches tall._ Roman shuddered as that number repeated in his brain. He was so, so tiny now. So insignificant.

Virgil frowned in worry when Roman didn’t move. Just stared down at the cereal. “Roman?”

Roman blinked, snapping out of his thoughts to briefly look up.

“Ah, thanks.” Roman grabbed a cheerio, holding it in both hands and slowly beginning to gnaw at it. Though the texture felt coarser than usual, the flavor was at least the same. And getting food back into his system felt nice. All this borrower business was really taking it out of him.

Virgil lowered himself to the floor again, looking at Roman with guilt. “I’m sorry.” Virgil apologized again. “I didn’t mean for it to go that far.” The fear that had once been satisfying was no longer once he realized it was a fear come from being hurt.

“I…I believe you.” Roman admitted. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to forgive Virgil just yet, what with the fact that the giant bruise upon his abdomen was still very fresh, but he did at least believe Virgil hadn’t meant to go that far. Of course, the fact that Virgil had wanted to do it at all was worrying to say the least.

“It’s just…” Roman paused, unsure how Virgil would react.

“Just what?” Virgil asked, wanting Roman to keep talking.

“Nevermind.” Roman shook his head.

“No tell me. I promise nothing will happen, I just want to know what you were going to say.” Virgil needed to know how badly he messed up. Roman said he believed him, which was good, but did that mean  _they_  were good?

“I mean…” Roman sighed, setting the half eaten cheerio in his lap. “I know I messed up, okay? But I thought I was getting better. And I thought you and I … but then, well, this whole situation occurs and it’s as if none of that mattered.”

“Roman, I…” Virgil sighed, deflating. “…You were getting better. You were the one to let us go after all. And you listened to me during our time together. I don’t think I would consider you a friend, not exactly, but close enough I suppose.” Virgil looked down.

“I guess I got lost in the power I have, being human, though. I wasn’t thinking about how far you’ve come, just about what you did _before_.” Virgil shook his head and met Roman’s eyes again. “Of course it matters. If it wasn’t for you Patton and I would still be with Logan. Probably for the rest of our lives. You…saved us.”

“…I did, didn’t I?” Roman felt a small bit of pride swell within him. He smiled at Virgil, feeling his normal confidence and energy returning.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Okay, don’t let it get to your head. You already have a big enough ego, even at this size.” Virgil said with a teasing smile.

“Oh please, as if these rags could even dream of containing my ego.” Roman lifted a bit of the borrower clothing he was wearing for emphasis.

Virgil frowned as attention was finally drawn to Roman’s clothes. “Wait a second…” On instinct, Virgil reached out and scooped Roman into his cupped hands, bringing him close to his face to inspect the clothing closer.

“H-hey!” Roman scooted back, but only collided with Virgil’s fingers.

Virgil blinked, before looking sheepish. “S-Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” Man, being a human must be messing with his instincts. “But your clothes…those are Patton’s.”

“Wait,  _what_?” Roman looked down at what he was wearing. “All this time I thought these were your clothes, since we switched sizes and all. And you’re wearing my clothes.”

Virgil blinked, looking down and noticing his clothes for the first time. “Huh. But, wait, if you’re wearing Patton’s clothes…then where is Patton?”


	3. Hey Look It's the Glasses Boys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton wakes up human-sized in Logan's room, and Logan wakes up borrower-sized in Virgil's room.

 Patton woke up to sunlight and the sounds of birds singing.

 Which was very unusual.

 Patton opened his eyes, staring at the white ceiling with furrowed eyebrows. Something was wrong. Blinking away sleep and getting used to the light, Patton sat up and took in his surroundings. Only to find that they were familiar. But a…weird familiar.

 Patton got out of bed, which looked like an actual human bed. But his size. Patton looked around the room, seeing a desk and a dresser as well. And then his eyes danced across a familiar object, a cage, and realization struck him.

 He was in  _Logan’s_  room. Except the room was now borrower sized as was everything else within it. Or…maybe the room wasn’t borrower sized, but Patton was  _human-sized_.

 Patton grinned, finding the thought incredibly cool. He ran over to the window, pulling back the curtains to see outside. The world stared back at him, smaller than it had ever been for him. Patton frowned though, letting the curtain fall back. How did he know this wasn’t just a dream though?

 Remembering something he saw a human do once, he pinched his arm. “Ow!” He yelped, having pinched just a little too hard. But that confirmed it. This wasn’t a dream, he was actually really human-sized.

 A grin broke out on his face once again as he realized this and remembered that this was  _Logan’s_  room. Which meant said human should be around somewhere and Patton could finally talk to him face to face. As an equal without being scared or worried.

 He obviously wasn’t in his room, so maybe he was somewhere else in the apartment?

 “Logan? Logan!” Patton called out as he walked around the home. It was strange. He recognized almost everything, but from a different angle. The counter he had stood on once wouldn’t even allow him to sit on it comfortably now. “Logan!”

 Patton returned to the room with a thoughtful frown. The house was empty, so where was Logan?

 Logan gasped, shaken awake by what felt like a massive earthquake. But how was that possible? Florida was one of the two most earthquake-free states within the United States of America. Unless…was he not in Florida? Logan glanced around at his surroundings, realizing he recognized nothing. The only source of light in the room came from large long cracks in the ceiling.

 Logan got off the pile of strange lumpy fabrics on which he had been sleeping. He tried to recall what was happening when he began to hear a thunderous voice calling his name. Logan clenched his teeth and ducked, pressing his hands to his ears as the voice got louder, the shaking got stronger. Soon some dust was unsettled from the ceiling and fell upon his shoulders.

 Then, just as Logan thought the ceiling would cave in, the shaking and yelling began to retreat. Soon everything stilled. Logan frowned, peering around cautiously at his surroundings. What was  _that_?

 It had to be some commotion in the room above. Logan frowned, noticing the way the light bent around a certain square of wood. This was Logan’s first clue that there was a hidden trapdoor. The second clue was when he noticed the ladder right next to it.

 Logan began to climb, having half a mind to yell at this stranger to keep it down. After all, it would be impossible for Logan to figure out what was going on if this racket kept up. Logan pushed on the wood. It was a bit stuck, but after a hearty shove, Logan finally got the latch to give.

 What Logan saw was unexpected, to say the least. It appeared as though this trapdoor was in the middle of a gigantic hallway. Some individuals may use the word ‘gigantic’ when truly they mean ‘very large’ or ‘quite wide’. In this case, Logan truly meant  _gigantic_. The ceiling looked to be 100 feet up, and the floor expanded far to Logan’s right and left. Indeed, now that he was out in the light Logan could see that the very floorboards had to have come from some gargantuan spruce trees as they were certainly far too hefty for normal lumber.

 Logan heaved himself up onto the main floor, standing up to get a better view. He twirled slowly in a circle, turning pale as he began to recognize his vast surroundings. No…it couldn’t be…

 But it was true. Logan was standing at a few inches tall within his own hallway.

 Patton didn’t really want to go outside, at least not yet. So he decided to do one more lap around the home. Maybe he had simply missed Logan the first time? He exited out of the room again, heading down the hall that led into the living room and kitchen. “Logan!” He tried calling again, hoping to hear an answer this time.

 Logan froze, feeling the floor shake beneath him once more. A pair of giant feet had appeared at the end of the hallway, accompanied by the same thundering voice calling his name. Though he was lost in a sea of questions, as the feet came ever closer Logan realized he had to  _move_. Forcing himself into action, Logan took off running to the left to try and get against the wall out of this beast’s way.

 Patton would have kept going if not for noticing the flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking in that direction, he froze when he saw what looked to be…a borrower.

 Was _that_ how small they really were to humans? That was  _really_ small.

 And while Patton was focused on that, he was also focused on the fact that the borrower looked to be wearing a familiar poncho. “Virgil?” Could that really be his best friend?

 Logan reached the wall, only feeling safe to re-evaluate what was going on when his back was firmly against it. At least the shaking had stopped. It must have been the footfalls of the giant which seemed to have ceased as it stood a good distance away. Logan craned his neck up, up,  _up_  the behemoth, taking in their human form. Of course, with a jolt, Logan realized that made sense. If he had truly shrunk, then this was surely a regular human in his apartment. Wearing his pajamas as well, for some reason.

 Logan’s head was tilted almost all the way back when he finally caught sight of the person’s face. Logan’s eyebrows rose, recognizing Patton. In some ways, it all made sense now. That was why the giant- er, human- had been calling Logan’s name, even though a second ago he was mistaken for Virgil.

 But in other ways, it made no sense at all! Why was Patton now the size of a human? Why was Logan now the size of the borrower? What possible,  _logical_  explanation could there be for this drastic shift of perspectives?!

 Patton stepped forward a bit before stopping again when the borrower turned around. Wait, no, that wasn’t Virgil. That was Virgil’s clothes for sure, but Virgil didn’t wear glasses. In fact, the borrower kind of looked like… “Wait, Logan? Is that you?” Without waiting for an answer, Patton finished walking towards the borrower and knelt in front of him. Now with a closer look, he saw it truly was Logan.

 “Logan! Holy moly-You’re so small!” Patton couldn’t help but say. Seeing the shrunken human up close was almost surreal. How had this happened?

 “I-I…ah…yes.” Logan wobbled a bit on his feet as Patton approached, but tried to swallow any feelings of unease. After all, Logan knew in his mind that it was just an instinctual fear because of the size difference. He could handle this. Though it was unnerving being near someone so large, Patton had never seemed to give him any hostility.

 Patton subconsciously leaned in even closer. “This is so weird. How did this happen? And why are you wearing Virgil’s clothes?” Patton asked, brimming with questions.

 Logan glanced down at what he was wearing, now fully taking in the poncho made of black and purple fabric scraps hobbled together.

 “I am…not certain,” Logan admitted, lifting his arm and frowning at the garment. “On either account. Do you recall anything peculiar that may have acted as a catalyst to this scenario?”

 Patton hummed, thinking for a moment as he rocked back and forth on the soles of his feet. “All I did last night was go home, pack, and go to bed. Nothing unusual.” Patton answered, shrugging. “I didn’t even dream last night, at least, nothing that I can remember.”

 Logan put out his arms slightly, feeling the floor tremble under Patton’s movements.

 “W-Well, neither did I.” Logan tried not to appear shaken. Keeping a clear mind was imperative. “Do you think Virgil has anything to do with this? What with these being his garments?”

 Patton tilted his head. “I don’t think so?” Patton thought for another moment. “Wait, where did you wake up?”

 “Over there.” Logan pointed to where the hatch entrance was, almost invisible against the grain in the wood. “In a little room of sorts underneath the floorboards.”

 Patton hummed, going over to where Logan pointed and inspecting it. He was quite certain this was Virgil’s home. But just to be safe, he decided to lift one of the floorboards to get a little peek.

 Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to know his own strength like this and accidentally ripped the loose floorboard out of the floor. He blinked. “Oops.” He said sheepishly. But looking in the room did confirm that it was Virgil’s. He carefully laid the board on top, leaving it there as he went back over to Logan.

 “That’s Virgil’s home alright. And I’m guessing he wasn’t there when you woke up?”

 “Ah, no.” Logan rubbed the back of his neck, trying to hide his reaction to Patton ripping up the floorboards. As a borrower, he was a bit frightened, and as a homeowner, he was a bit furious. “I was the only one there.”

 “Hmm…Then where is he?” There was no way Virgil had anything to do with this…but maybe he was a part of it like they were?

 Patton sighed, this whole thing was confusing. And he was getting tired of kneeling down like this. He was used to looking up all the time, not down. “Maybe we should take this into your room,” Patton said, reaching his hand towards Logan and grabbing him in a fist before standing and heading towards said room.

 Logan couldn’t stop a startled yelp from escaping him. Of course, logically it made sense, it was the fastest way for them to travel and Logan himself had grabbed many a borrower for the ease of mobility. However, the action was unanticipated and the lack of warning caused Logan’s heart to skip a beat. The grip was also incredibly tight, causing Logan to squirm merely to try and reduce the amount of pressure around his chest.

 Hearing the yelp and feeling the squirming in his hand-and it felt  _weird_  to say the least-Patton looked down and realized what he had done. Eyes going wide, he opened his hand up. Standing in the middle of Logan’s room, he looked the new borrower over. “Sorry, Logan! I didn’t realize…” He hadn’t even noticed that he had done that.

 “It’s…alright.” Logan was still thrown off a bit by the incident, but he understood that accidents happened. If he was going to be stuck at this size for even a little while, Logan would have to get used to things bigger than himself being in charge. Of course, that didn’t mean he had to like it.

 Patton looked around the room, before deciding to put Logan on top of the dresser. They sat there in silence for a moment, before Patton broke it. “This is so weird.” He couldn’t help but say again. “I never imagined I would ever be a human. And I knew we were small, but…borrowers are  _really_  small.”

 “Indeed.” Logan sighed, glancing around his now too large bedroom. “Only a few inches.” It was disorienting, to say the least. His eyes landed on the cage, and Logan felt a slight chill run up his back.

 Patton frowned and tried to discreetly follow Logan’s gaze, realizing he was looking at the cage. Frowning, he looked back at Logan. “Are you doing okay?” He knew what being a borrower was like, and it was especially scary around humans. And, he supposed he counted as a human now.

 Logan looked up at Patton briefly, finding it difficult to stare at the human for long expanses of time. “I’m alright.” Logan lied.


	4. A Familiar Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas comes to Logan's door looking for his neighbor, only to get a surprise when a stranger opens the door.

Logan was relieved to hear a knocking from the other room, preventing any further probing into his mental state. Of course, that only brought more questions on to an already confusing scenario.

“Who could that be?” Logan frowned, glancing at the door.

Patton tensed up, looking towards the door as well.

There was a moment of silence where nothing happened. Then, there was another knock on the front door, this time more insistent.

“…Well?” Logan looked up at Patton expectantly. “Are you going to get the door?”

Patton blinked. “Oh! Right!” He was the human now, which meant he needed to do human things, like answer the door. It wasn’t like Logan could do it anyway. He looked to Logan. “I’ll, uh, be right back.”

Patton exited the room and moved to the front door. He took a breath and a second to the figure out how the lock worked, before opening the door. An unfamiliar face stared back at him. “Um…hi?” Patton greeted nervously.

“Uh…” Thomas paused, a bit taken aback to see a stranger in Logan’s apartment. “Is…Logan here?”

“Uhhhh…he’s at…school?” Patton said, trying to come up with an excuse as to why Logan wouldn’t be home. He didn’t even take in the fact that the voice sounded familiar.

“…wait a second…” Thomas leaned closer, squinting as he found the stranger’s voice familiar as well.

Patton, in turn, leaned back. Feeling even more nervous. He glanced inside the house, wishing Logan could help him. “Um, what?”

“I’m sorry, I just…” Thomas shook his head, standing up straight once more. It wasn’t possible. It  _couldn’t_  be possible. But Thomas would recognize that voice anywhere; he couldn’t get it out of his head all day. It was the reason he was looking for Logan in the first place. “…are you…Patton?”

Patton’s eyes widened, taken aback by the stranger knowing his name. “How did you-?” Patton stopped, coming to a slow realization. His nerves had made him miss it before, but now it was clear. “…Thomas?”

“Yes!” Thomas felt his face light up, gleeful that not only was this actually Patton, but Patton knew who he was. “Oh my goodness gracious, I had no idea you- but wait, I thought you were…?” Thomas held his hands close together to indicate a few inches.

“Oh, I am! Or, er, was.” Patton said, looking down at himself and remembering he wasn’t a borrower at the moment. “But, uh, something…happened.” Would Logan mind Patton telling Thomas? He did know about everything after all. And maybe he could help?

“That’s so weird.” Thomas frowned lightly. “I’m glad you’re alright. I was so worried when I heard everything.” Thomas ran a hand through his hair, processing a lot. “And you’re- you’re human now! That’s pretty awesome. Is, ah, Virgil human too then?”

“I don’t think so…then again, I haven’t seen him…” Patton said the last part more to himself. Could Virgil be human too? The possibility was out there, he supposed.

“Oh, yeah, okay.” Thomas looked past Patton into the room slightly. “So… why are you in Logan’s apartment?”

“Well…remember when I said something happened? I…wasn’t the only one who, ah…changed.” Patton figured Logan couldn’t be too mad and took a deep breath. “It’s better if I show you.” He motioned Thomas inside, closing the door before having him follow him into the bedroom.

Logan looked up, having heard snippets of the conversation in the other room. Now _two_  humans stood in the doorway. Patton (as was expected), and Thomas, Logan’s downstairs neighbor.

“Ah, hello Thomas.” Logan tried to put on a brave face, giving him a slight wave.

Thomas blinked. Barely believing his eyes, Thomas saw his neighbor standing only a few inches tall on a dresser. Though Thomas had known about borrowers, this was the first time he actually saw one, and it was almost impossible to comprehend.

“Logan?!” Thomas gasped, rushing forward. He all but slammed into the dresser, sliding forward onto his knees and placing his arms on either side of Logan. He leaned forward, desperate to get a closer look.

“T-Thomas!” Patton rushed over, looking between the human and the shrunken human. “You can’t crowd him like that.” Patton fidgeted with his hands not knowing what to do with them. Part of him wanted to put a hand on Thomas’ shoulder, but decided against it.

Logan had fallen on his back, knocked over by all the ruckus Thomas’ movements caused. Though minimal on a human scale, at this size Logan was conscious of every twitch from his giant compatriots.

“Oh, sorry.” Thomas said sheepishly, leaning back slightly. “But it’s just- wow, you’re so  _small!_ ”

“Y-yes.” Logan couldn’t keep the slight tremble out of his voice, instincts once again getting the better of him. This was only magnified as he remembered Thomas had no true interactions with individuals of his new stature before.

Patton will admit, he did not envy Logan’s current situation. He shivered at the thought of being where Logan was. Which, at any other time, he would have been.

Patton cleared his throat to gain attention. “Um, anyway, this is the situation we’re dealing with. We both just suddenly woke up bigger and smaller.” Patton sighed. “And we have no idea what to do.”

“This is so weird.” Thomas, entranced, slowly lifted a hand towards Logan. In response, Logan quickly skittered backwards, heart racing in his chest.

This time, Patton did reach out his hand towards Thomas, grabbing his wrist to stop him from grabbing Logan or whatever he was going to do. “S-Sorry Thomas, but…” He motioned towards Logan and his reaction.

Thomas froze, realization dawning as he snapped out of his trance.

“Oh Logan, I’m so sorry!” Thomas scooted away from the dresser, bringing his hands up to his mouth in surprise. “I don’t know what came over me, are you okay?”

“It’s ah…” Logan took a moment to breath and sit up. “It’s alright, it’s not exactly an…unexpected reaction.”

“Still, I feel bad.” Thomas cringed. “After all that time I spent listening to that recording I still end up making the same stupid mistakes. Maybe I was a bit quick to judge you and Roman.”

At the mention of Roman, Patton noticeably tensed. “Maybe not…Roman.” Patton muttered, half hoping Thomas wouldn’t hear him.

“Where is Roman, anyways?” Thomas glanced around the room, briefly frowning at the cage. Too many bad memories there.

“In his own apartment, I’d assume.” Logan was eager to change the topic, noting Patton’s unease.

“Oh.” Thomas tilted his head slightly. “Do you think he um, changed too?”

“Why on earth would I be inclined to believe that?” Logan raised an eyebrow.

“Well, you two were both involved in this strange fantastical mess from the beginning.” Thomas shrugged. “I just figured you’d both be affected by this weird spell or whatever.”

Patton frowned. “I don’t know.  I mean, I guess it isn’t impossible, but…” Patton shrugged. “What are the odds of it happening twice?” Honestly, he just didn’t want to see Roman again.

“I mean, what are the odds of finding a borrower?” Thomas countered.

“Slim to none.” Logan answered. “Given the statistics I’ve estimated.”

“Well, you both already beat those odds.” Thomas reasoned.

“Correlation does not equal causation.” Logan deadpanned. “Regardless, you may have a point. Though I hate to involve them, the fact I’ve woken up in Virgil’s clothing may indicate that there is some foundation to the probability of the other two individuals being involved. They were the only two regularly seen within the last 48 hours by either of us and may at least lead to some hint of what’s going on.”

“So…you’re saying we should go to Roman’s apartment to check?” Patton asked, sounding nervous. “Because, uh, I don’t…I don’t know if I can.” Patton rubbed the back of his neck, looking off to the side. Here he was, a human, still scared of Roman. Who at this point in time might be a borrower or at the very least the same size as him now. He was pathetic.

“I mean, I can go check it out for you.” Thomas offered.

“…Could you? I mean, if it isn’t too much trouble.” Patton didn’t want to bother Thomas with all of this if he really didn’t want to do it.

“Of course, Patton!” Thomas smiled at him. “It’s the least I could do. If things are all switched there I’ll bring them back, and if they’re not i’ll come back and we can figure out this mess together.”

“That sounds great! Thank you, Thomas.” Patton looked to Logan. “I’ll leave the door unlocked for you and the two of us will be waiting.”

“Okay, I’ll be back shortly!” Thomas stood up. He glanced down at Logan again, trying not to feel weird about it. “Ah, sorry again Logan.”

“No worries.” Logan looked down at his feet, not wanting to acknowledge the height difference.

Thomas left the apartment, hurrying up the stairs to the 5th floor. He knocked quickly on the door. A large part of him was desperately hoping it wouldn’t be Roman answering the door, as Thomas was already giddy at the prospect of actually meeting Virgil. Thomas had only heard so much about him over the recording. What would he be like in person?


	5. Okay, is everybody here?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang (finally) gets back together!

Virgil jumped at the sound of knocking on the door. He glanced in that direction and then down at Roman in his hands with wide eyes. “What do I do?” He asked, most of him wanting to leave the person at the door and hope they eventually left.

“Roman?” Thomas called loudly, pounding on the door again.

“That’s Thomas!” Roman said in realization. He could trust Thomas. Thomas was always kind to him,  _and_ he knew the borrower secret. Perhaps he knew something that could help them. “Open the door!”

“Ah! Okay, um, uh…” Virgil really didn’t want to, but apparently this was happening regardless. He glanced at Roman, wondering what he should do, before noticing the pajamas he wore had a shirt pocket. Deciding quickly, he dropped Roman into it and went to answer the door. Taking a nervous breath, he inched the door open slightly. It might have sounded like Thomas, but you could never be too careful.

“H-Hello?”

Roman gasped, feeling a bit suffocated by his own satin pajamas. He squirmed on instinct, trying to find footing on the slick fabric so he could see what was going on outside.

“Virgil?” Thomas said hopefully when a stranger did indeed answer the door in Roman’s signature ruby red pjs.

“…Thomas?” Despite having never seen the human before, Virgil could recognize the voice. And the fact he knew Virgil’s name was a good indicator as well.

“Yup, that’s me!” Thomas grinned, wanting to hug Virgil but felt that might be a bit too sudden. Movement caught his eye, and Thomas glanced at the squirming pocket on Virgil’s chest. “And, uh, I’m guessing…that’s Roman?”

Roman finally heaved himself up over the lip of the pocket, holding himself up by arm strength alone. He gave Thomas a strained smile. “Greetings, Thomas.”

Virgil glanced down as Roman revealed himself. He wanted so badly to hide him away from Thomas, but stopped himself. Thomas already knew, there was no point in hiding anything. But Thomas’ ‘guess’ raised some questions.

“How did you know Roman was in my pocket? Or that I was Virgil, you’ve never seen me before.” Virgil asked, eyebrow raised.

“Oh, right.” Thomas tried not to stare too hard at Roman’s miniature form, or think about how adorable he looked sitting in a pocket. Though it was a selfish thought, Thomas now found himself wishing he had a borrower of his own in a pocket. “Well, I was actually just downstairs with Patton and Logan. They switched sizes, and so I had a hunch you guys might have switched as well.”

Virgil’s eyes widened. “They did?!” It made sense though, honestly. But still, Patton was human too? And Logan…Logan was now borrower sized. Virgil hummed to himself, but shook the thoughts away for now. He could come back to those later.

“Well, what are we waiting around here for then?” Virgil, at this point, needed to see Patton. Just to make sure everything was okay. Though, if he was human too, he should be just fine. Hopefully.

“Onwards!” Roman pointed forwards with only a few fingers, worried that if he pointed with his whole arm then he’d fall back inside the pocket.

“Right, follow me.” Thomas led the way towards the stairwell. “Y’know, it is just so cool I actually get to meet you, Virgil. Both of you, really. What’s it like? Being a borrower, I mean.”

Virgil should have expected this question. “It’s…life.” He shrugged as he followed Thomas. “We’re small in a world made for giants. We always have to hide or risk being caught by an ill meaning human. We live off the beings we have to hide away from, or we die…” Virgil shook his head.

“We don’t live, we survive.”

“O-oh.” Thomas didn’t actually know how to respond to that, and now he was regretting he had asked. “Sorry.”

“Jeez, lighten up Virgil.” Roman rolled his eyes, struggling to stay up as Virgil’s every step threatened to send him falling back down. Sure, it was true, but that didn’t mean the emo had to be so dramatic.

Virgil glared down at Roman. Noticing him start to struggle, Virgil smirked and took Roman out of his pocket, glancing over at Thomas. “Hey Thomas, hold this.” Without giving time for Thomas to react, he dropped Roman into his hands.

Thomas gasped, fingers curling reflexively around Roman’s tiny form. Immediately he stopped walking, standing in the hall outside Logan’s apartment as he stared in awe down at his now tiny neighbor. Roman was so…  _light_.

Roman groaned slightly, his bruises agitated from all the jostling. He sat up, tensing when he felt one of Thomas’ fingers stroke his back.

Virgil turned around when he realized Thomas had stopped. He smirked slightly at both reactions, getting exactly what he had hoped for. A way to get Roman back for that comment without hurting him. And a way to get Thomas to stop asking questions. But still, they needed to get going.

“You guys coming?”

“Oh, r-right.” Thomas took tiny steps forward, eyes constantly on Roman like he was a fragile egg. He kept going, only pausing again when they were all in front of the correct apartment. “Could you knock, Virgil? My hands are…well…”

Virgil rolled his eyes, but knocked on the door.

Patton, having moved Logan and himself into the living room, shot up to his feet and swung the door open. He was face to face with Virgil.

Both borrowers turned human stared at each other for a moment before Patton tackled Virgil into a hug. Virgil returned it after a moment, smiling. So it was true, Patton was also a human.

“I’m so glad you’re here Virgil!” Patton exclaimed, letting go of his friend. “…This is weird, right?” Patton asked, causing Virgil to chuckle.

“You could say that.” Virgil’s eyes wandered to Logan down on the coffee table and his eyes went wide. Seeing Roman tiny was one thing, but Logan? His previous fear of the human was suddenly replaced. Replaced by an ever growing anger. He couldn’t help but glare at the shrunken human. But quickly stopped when Patton was looking at him again.

“Where’s Roman?” Virgil shrugged, before motioning behind him.

“With Thomas.”

“Yup, I’ve got him right here.” Thomas shuffled forward into the room, holding his hands up slightly as if to show Roman off.

“Ah, hello Patton.” Roman waved shyly at Patton, knowing Patton had never been fond of him. Logan was always the favorite, after all.

“I am…surprised your theory was correct.” Logan admitted to Thomas, trying not to feel intimidated by the presence of three humans. It was also a bit unnerving the way Virgil had first looked at him. Of course he knew that Virgil had made his…dislike of Logan very clear on multiple occasions, but seeing it while only a few inches tall was different.

Patton frowned as Roman greeted him. Eyes going wide, he slowly walked closer to Roman. He blinked. “You…aren’t scary like this.” Patton murmured, a smile overtaking his features.

“Really?” Roman perked up. Perhaps another former human would see Patton’s comment as an insult, but Roman could only feel joyful that for once Patton was acting almost happy to see him.

Patton nodded and reached out both his hands to scoop Roman up, bringing him closer to him. “Yeah! And you’re so cute!”

Virgil simply watched this happen, glad Patton was finally over his fear. At least, with Roman like this.

“Woah!” Roman was surprised, but tried not to let any of his fear or discomfort show. Though his ribs still hurt, he wanted Patton to like him so badly that he just smiled up at Patton through the pain.

“Aww, this is so wholesome!” Thomas put his hands to his cheeks as he tried to process all the cuteness. “Oh my goodness, we should totally celebrate!”

“What an excellent suggestion!” Roman shifted around to look at Thomas. “Er, celebrate how, exactly?”

“We could go out for ice cream?” Thomas suggested. “The five of us. My treat.”

“I don’t think that’s wise, given the circumstances.”  Logan adjusted his glasses. They were the one thing from his previous attire that shifted with him.

“I hate to agree with Logan, but I do. It’s a bad idea, going outside as we are.” Virgil said. Patton pouted.

“But why not? I would _love_  to go get ice cream, I’ve never had it before! And I won’t have to hide, not like this!” He twirled around, showing off how human he was. Virgil rolled his eyes fondly at that.

Roman tried desperately to hold on as Patton twirled, nearly causing Roman to slip.

“Careful!” Thomas warned, pointing to Patton’s hands meaningfully.

Patton stopped, looking down at Roman sheepishly. “Whoops, sorry Roman.”

“No worries, my friend.” Roman said, still feeling the room spin slightly.

“Patton, given your… new form, I think it might be acceptable for you to go.” Logan conceded, wanting Patton to feel happy. After all, if it was only temporary a single trip to the ice cream store couldn’t hurt. “Provided Thomas was there to supervise. But Roman and myself should remain behind.”

  
“Uh,  _hello_?” Roman glared down at Logan from his perch in Patton’s hands. “I’m one of the individuals to be celebrated, remember?”

“Maybe we can pick up some ice cream from the store instead.” Thomas suggested a compromise. “That way we can all eat it back here together, and no one’s left out.”

If Virgil was being honest, he really didn’t want Patton going out there. They had little to no idea what to expect and, being borrowers, they didn’t have a ton of human knowledge or social skills. What if something went wrong?

But on the other hand…he glanced at Logan. If both Thomas and Patton were out of the house…Virgil smirked.

“Actually, yeah, that sounds good. But I’m gonna stay back here. Can’t have these guys getting into any trouble or anything.” Virgil shrugged. “…Also the idea of interacting with any more humans freaks me out.”

“Ah, an introvert after my own heart.” Thomas chuckled. “Well, not really. I like food too much. But sounds like a plan to me! Everyone else good?”

“I suppose.” Roman sighed dramatically.

“It makes the most logical sense.” Logan squinted at Virgil out of the corner of his eye, wondering what that look on his face had meant.

“Then it’s settled! We’ll go get the ice cream and be right back! Oh, this is so exciting.” Patton turned to Thomas. “Are we walking? Oh! Or are we taking the car?!” Patton asked, bouncing up and down in excitement.

“Careful there Pat.” Virgil said, motioning towards Roman. Once again, Patton looked sheepish.

“Sorry.” Virgil smiled.

“It’s fine, here.” He held out his hand and Patton transferred Roman over to him.

“Yes, we’re taking the car.” Thomas chuckled at Patton’s excitement. “We’ll be back in a half hour guys!”

“Take your time!” Virgil called back as Patton followed Thomas out and the door closed. Virgil set Roman down next to Logan on the coffee table. Silence fell over the three of them.


	6. VIRGIL THOSE ARE FRAGILE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil has a few choice words for Logan.

“Soooo….” Roman said, eager to break the awkwardness. “Logan, how’s borrower life treating you?”

“Better than you, apparently.” Logan looked him up and down. “What happened?”

“Oh, right.” Roman was quick to make sure his bruises were covered. “I…fell.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow in surprise at Roman. He had expected him to tell Logan everything, but…he didn’t. Huh. “Yeah.” Virgil backed up.

He was getting tired of this sitting around, getting antsy and wasting time. He turned to Logan. “…I need to talk to you.”

“Well, go on then.” Logan frowned, a bit uneasy about the way Virgil was acting. “What do you need to say?”

Virgil glanced at Roman. “I need to talk to you _alone_.” And with that, Virgil grabbed Logan in a fist and headed towards Logan’s bedroom. Leaving Roman behind on the coffee table. Unlike an actual borrower, he knew Roman wouldn’t be able to make his way down the table and to the room. So he could have all the privacy they needed.

He wouldn’t bring Roman into this again, he didn’t deserve it. But Logan? Logan absolutely did.

“Wait, Virgil-!” Roman called after him, but the human was already out of sight by then. Roman huffed, glancing around the coffee table. There was no real reason for him to worry. After all, it made sense that Virgil would want to talk to Logan. But the way Virgil spoke, the way he grabbed Logan, and even the way Virgil had acted this very morning to Roman… the shrunken human gulped.

Roman didn’t want to believe Virgil was capable of anything sinister, but he couldn’t take that chance. Logan didn’t deserve to be hurt any more than himself. Not to mention, Roman didn’t want Virgil to do anything he might regret.

Walking over to the edge of the table, Roman sucked in a breath. He knew from his regular life this table was only a foot off the ground or so, but now it looked so much taller. Would he survive a fall from that height? Already his lungs were protesting such a feat.

No, that would be stupid. Instead, Roman turned his attention to the table leg. It was angled outwards as a design choice. Maybe he could just try to slide down that?

Meanwhile, Logan was trying very hard to keep those pesky emotions in check. Once again his heart was racing thanks to his newly acquired borrower instincts.

Virgil’s eyes immediately went to the desk and what was on top of the desk, smirking. He never thought he would be thankful to see that Logan still had the cage. He took a seat at the desk and set Logan on top of it. He simply stared at him, smirking.

Logan glanced around at his surroundings, taking note of Virgil’s chosen placement. It was a spot that had hosted a slew of unpleasant memories between them, admittedly most being Logan’s fault.

“We’re alone now.” Logan stated. “What’s so urgent you can’t allow Roman to be present?” Though Logan often found Roman to be incompetent, he found himself wishing for the shrunken human’s company.

“Well, you see…” Virgil reached behind Logan, picking him up by the back of-technically Virgil’s-shirt and holding him up to his face. “I didn’t want to scare him.” _Again._

Logan quickly grasped at the front collar of his clothing, making sure it didn’t pull too tightly around his neck as he was dangled precariously. His legs hung uselessly, kicking slightly at the air.

He gazed at Virgil’s giant eyes, sitting right before him and filled with a flurry of emotions. Logan read the human’s expression and realized his instinctual fright might actually be reasonable for once.

Virgil felt joy at the slight fear Logan was giving off, but it wasn’t enough. “See, Roman actually treated us halfway decent  _and_ was the one to let us go in the end. So he doesn’t deserve any of this.” Virgil let his grip slip and let Logan fall a little onto his other hand below. “You on the other hand, well…” Virgil’s hand closed around Logan.

“If it were up to you, we’d still be trapped in that cage over there, huh?”

“Why does everyone act like Roman’s a saint?” Logan argued, pushing against the uncomfortable grip around him. “He scared Patton first, traumatized him even. I’m the one who rehabilitated Patton and actually made him feel safe!”

Virgil grit his teeth. “Look, I  _know_  Roman isn’t a saint. I  _know_  what he did to Patton. I wasn’t going to tell you this, I’m actually surprised Roman didn’t. But he didn’t fall, like he said he had. I…admittedly, went too far, giving him a taste of his own medicine.” Virgil shrugged, though he did feel really bad about hurting Roman, he was trying to make Logan as scared as possible.

“Besides, Roman ended up making up for it, more or less. You, on the other hand, despite Patton’s thoughts and feelings towards you, ended up  _betraying_ him. And don’t think I’ve forgotten about all the things you did to  _me_.” Virgil chuckled darkly. “How could I?”

Logan began to get concerned, now knowing the origin of Roman’s injuries. If that was the extent Virgil was willing to hurt Roman, a human who was possibly a friend, what extent was Virgil willing to go to for  _Logan_? From the very beginning Virgil had despised Logan, and Logan knew it was for a good reason.

“Virgil, you have to understand.” Logan began to plead, knowing words could be his only salvation. “The way I treated you was the worst decision of my life. I have felt guilty about it ever since. It’s why I didn’t present you to the dean. It’s why I treated Patton so much kinder. I was trying to reform myself just like Roman. To make up for my past actions, if you will.”

“Really?” Virgil rolled his eyes and placed Logan back down on the desk. “You mean you _tricked_  Patton. Not telling him the whole truth, making him decorate his own  _cage_  for petes sake!” Placing two hands on either side of Logan, Virgil leaned in close. “And don’t think I didn’t notice that you didn’t answer my earlier question. It’s because it’s true, isn’t it? If it was up to you, Patton and I would still be in that cage right there. Right?” Virgil glared daggers at Logan.

Logan gulped, quickly taking a few steps back. His heart thudded under his ribcage, voicing its own distress at this situation. Should Logan try and make a run for it? But where would he go? In any direction Logan was still trapped on the desk.

“Ah…well…” Logan floundered for words, not even knowing the true answer himself. Logan wished he could confidently say no, but he could not. He had certainly intended on keeping the borrowers before, who’s to say he wouldn’t fulfill that intention? Possibly for a lifetime?

Virgil hummed. “Welp, that’s enough of an answer for me.” Virgil grabbed Logan up again, this time scooting the cage a little closer and dropping him inside. He closed the door with a resounding click. He smirked, watching Logan through the bars. “So, how does it feel?”

Logan groaned, his back hitting painfully against the metal bottom. He stood up, glancing around at his enclosure. Though the bars were intimidating, it was a bit difficult for Logan to guess Virgil’s plan. Did the human mean to keep him here indefinitely? It was hard for Logan to actually fear such a fate, given the knowledge that Patton and Thomas were sure to return shortly.

“Unpleasant.” Logan answered Virgil’s question with a defiant glare.

Virgil returned the glare, his coming off much harsher. “That’s it. That’s all you have to say?” Virgil was getting angry at the lack of reaction and so he gripped the side of the cage and rocked it harshly once. “How about now?”

Logan was thrown to the ground, his hands just barely catching himself from smacking his head against it. His heart skipped a beat, panting from the adrenaline. Logan could feel his legs and palms throbbing. The sudden movement had caused both areas to scrape along the surface.

“VIRGIL!” Roman yelled, all but limping into the doorway. He had taken a slight tumble off the coffee table leg and had had to travel the distance from the living room to the bedroom on foot, but one look at the scene before him and Roman knew that it had been worth it. His horrible gut feeling had been right after all.

Virgil looked down, eyes going wide at the sight of Roman. “Wha-Roman, how did you-?!” Virgil kneeled down and wasted no time in scooping Roman into his hands, looking him over. “Did you climb down the coffee table? Roman, you aren’t actually a borrower, you could have died!” Virgil used a finger to gently nudge Roman’s leg, which seemed to have taken the worst of Roman’s little fall.

“Ow!” Roman hissed, pulling his leg away from Virgil’s touch. “I’m borrower enough, thank you very much. And it’s your fault I had to climb down in the first place.”

Logan sat up slowly, watching the scene above him apprehensively from his spot on the cage floor. He didn’t want to stand just in case the cage was shaken again. Of course, Logan also spotted the cruel irony in how fast Virgil changed from torturing himself to babying Roman.

“I didn’t make you do anything.” Virgil said, but looked away.

“Come on, Virgil.” Roman scolded gently, gesturing to the cage with his hand. “You’re better than this.”

Virgil looked at the cage, at Logan, and glared. “…This doesn’t concern you, Roman.” Virgil said, looking back at Roman, his glare softening a little.

“Yes it does!” Roman argued. “I’m trying to help you, you stormy scoundrel. You’re all twisted around this foolish idea of revenge that you’re not thinking clearly.”

“Revenge against acts for which I have already apologized.” Logan pointed out.

“Logan, I swear to odin, you are not helping your case.” Roman glared briefly in the direction of the cage.

“He deserves all of this!” Virgil told Roman, before once again glaring at Logan. “And you. You think a simple apology makes up for everything?” He set Roman down on the desk, before lifting up his shirt, showing off the many black and blue bruises covering his skin. If one looked close, they would see that they matched the outline of giant fingers. “You think words make up for  _this_.” Tears pricked the corners of his eyes, but he didn’t allow them to fall.

At this magnitude, it was hard not to notice every detail of Virgil’s markings. Courtesy of both former human’s manhandling. They both could only stare so long before guilt overcame them. Logan began fiddling with his glasses, trying to distract himself. After all, neither had ever intentionally done Virgil harm. It was merely due to the size difference and gripping Virgil too tightly. Yet their intentions were irrelevant when it came to actual results.

Logan was at a loss for words. Though this process was frightening, perhaps he did deserve this. Logan had never been an empathetic person by nature. A shared experience might allow him to feel some empathy towards all the pain he had caused Virgil.

Roman, however, still did not believe that Logan deserved this punishment. After all, Roman was just as guilty of accidentally bruising borrowers. He was sure that if Patton were to show off his chest it would be just as littered with markings. But Roman now had his own set of bruises, and hoped that perhaps that could be his ticket to getting through to Virgil.

“You know what?” Roman looked up at Virgil. “I think words do make up for that.” Roman lifted up his own shirt, showing off the large oval bruise left there this morning by Virgil’s finger. “Because guess what, ya vengeful viper? You did it too. And all you did to fix _this_ was apologize.”

Virgil’s eyes widened at the sight of Roman’s bruise and he let his shirt drop back down. “I…but I…” He hated to admit it, but Roman had a point there. He only had his words to give when what happened this morning, well, happened. And, he was honestly surprised, but Roman  _had_ forgiven him. Even though the shrunken human was clearly still hurting.

Virgil couldn’t just forgive Logan though. He had done so much  _more_ to deserve this. Caused so much fear in Virgil, tricked Patton and then broke his heart, almost  _showed him off_  to a human, who also happened to be a  _scientist._  Not to mention, thinking back on things, Logan hadn’t actually,  _truly_ , apologized.

“B-But I meant my apology! And Logan hasn’t even given me a proper one but even if he did, how do I know he means it? He just admitted he would have kept both me and Patton in that cage if it hadn’t been for you!” Virgil said through gritted teeth.

“Why would you say that?” Roman turned exasperatedly towards the cage, dropping his own shirt to use his arms to emphasize his point.

“I thought honesty would be the best policy.” Logan shrugged.

“Unbelievable!” Roman threw his hands up in the air before turning away from Logan.

“Although, in my defense, I never actually admitted to that.” Logan continued.

“You’re silence was enough.” Virgil said. He opened the cage door, once again grabbing Logan in a fist.

Logan struggled, feeling bruises of his own forming as Virgil’s fingers pressed the air right out of his lungs.

“Virgil, put him down!” Roman yelled, trying to hide his own fright at how fast Virgil had grabbed Logan up.

Virgil didn’t put him down, but he did loosen his grip when he felt Logan struggling a bit too much. Despite what both of them might think, he wasn’t here to actually hurt Logan. He turned to Roman. “Give me one good reason why I should! Give me a reason why I shouldn’t scare him as much as he scared me, Roman. I thought he was going to  _kill_ me. I thought he was going to  _dissect_  me for heaven’s sake!” He glared down at Logan. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t _hate_  him.”

Logan paled, staring into Virgil’s terrifying gaze. He felt his form shivering despite the fact it wasn’t cold. Though Virgil had loosened his grip, Logan still found it difficult to draw breath.

“Um…” Roman bit his lip, trying to think of a good reason. He wasn’t particularly fond of Logan himself, but that didn’t make this right. Of course, morality alone didn’t seem to be having any effect on Virgil right now. The old borrower was so blinded by his rage that it was hard to come up with any answer that would get through to Virgil.

“Patton likes him?” Roman said with a shrug.

“Patton likes everyone.” Virgil deadpanned. “I know it took awhile for him to warm up to you and all, but eventually he does. And take into account that Logan tricked and lied to him…” Virgil shrugged and smirked. “It’s hard isn’t it? Giving me a valid reason. Because, you’ll find, that there _isn’t_ one.”

“Well you’ve got me there.” Roman muttered to himself, putting his hand on his chin to think.

“Look-” Roman said finally after coming up with nothing. “-I’ll admit it, I’m stumped. I cannot think of a good reason for you to not hate Logan. He was manipulative, selfish, and is generally unpleasant to be around.”

“Wonderful.” Logan said sarcastically. His life was figuratively in Roman’s hands (whilst literally being in Virgil’s hands), and Roman decided to insult him to his face. How helpful.

“But!” Roman quickly continued. “Hating someone is not a good enough reason to torture them. An eye for an eye may make eyepatch sales go up, but it doesn’t leave anyone feeling better about themselves. Hurting Logan isn’t going to change the past or help the future. Just let it go, Virgil.”

Roman’s words were getting Virgil mad, only because he was starting to see his point. But, that didn’t mean Virgil was giving in so easily. Besides, it seemed Roman’s whole point was based off of Virgil planning to hurt Logan, and well… “I’m not going to hurt him.” Virgil spoke. It might take some of the fear factor away, admitting that to Logan, but he needed to say it.

“I had never meant to hurt  _you_  either, but I didn’t know my own strength as a human. Now, I can control it a bit better.”  Virgil took a deep breath. “This isn’t about hurting him, it’s about making him feel what I felt. Emotionally, mentally, but not-not physically.” Despite…hating Logan, he would also hate to hurt him.

“Well, I think you’ve met your goal there.” Roman gestured to Virgil’s fist. “Nano nerd over here is shaking like a leaf.”

“Y-yes.” Logan’s voice stuttered against his will. “You’ve made your point… _incredibly_  clear.”

“Please,” Virgil rolled his eyes. “You’ve only experienced a portion of what I went through. This isn’t over.” The stutter in Logan’s voice was satisfying to hear though. Suddenly, they heard the front door open.

“Virgil! You should have seen it! It was amazing! There were so many humans and so many different foods to choose from! But the humans weren’t scary at this size! It was so much fun!” Patton’s voice called into the house. Virgil felt panic start to rise in him as he looked between Roman and Logan. He…hadn’t thought this far ahead.


	7. Let Off Steam With Ice Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This ice cream is as cold as the stares Virgil keeps giving Logan. But let's all just take a chill pill and relax, okay?

“Hellooooo?” Thomas called louder, setting the ice cream and toppings onto the kitchen counter. “Anybody home?” It had been a lot of fun choosing various toppings and explaining them to Patton. Well, ‘choosing’ might be the wrong term, as almost every single thing they had passed ended up in the basket. Thomas justified it by wanting to make sure Patton and Virgil’s first ice cream experience was as amazing as possible.

Back in the bedroom, Roman was now faced with a difficult choice. Should he call Patton into the room, hoping the human would scold Virgil? But maybe that might make things worse. After all, Roman’s whole argument revolved around forgiving people for the past. Maybe if they all just acted like this never happened, Virgil’s own guilt would prevent any further misdemeanors. Surely with time Virgil would come around…right?

Of course, Virgil’s guilt about harming Roman hadn’t stopped him from trying to scare Logan. Clearly Virgil needed more time than Roman originally thought.

“Virgil, put. him. down.” Roman instructed irritably, knowing they had limited time.

Virgil bit his lip, but did as Roman said and put Logan down next to him. Just in time too, as Patton walked into the room.

“There you guys are! Ice cream is here!” Patton announced, before staring at all of them with a frown. “…What are you guys doing in here anyway?” He questioned. Virgil coughed slightly.

“Uh, nothing. Just talking…hanging out.” He shrugged.

“Patton, Virgil was- “ Logan was cut off as Roman quickly slapped his hand over Logan’s mouth.

“Telling us about himself!” Roman’s voice was a little more rushed than usual as he fibbed. “How he’s…scared of the dark. And talks in his sleep. And is a wuss.”

“Oh! Well, I’m glad you’re all getting along!” If Patton was being honest, he had been a little worried about leaving them alone, but he was glad to see those worries were unfounded. “Now come on! I want to try the ice cream.” He walked over and offered Logan a ride.

Logan flinched away from the approaching hand, but when it stopped on the desk Logan gave a tense sigh. He had to remember this was Patton. It was only Virgil who held ill-will against him. Slowly Logan climbed onto the palm, feeling his new injuries beginning to ache now that the adrenaline of the moment was over.

Patton brought his hand to his chest and brought him into the kitchen where they had put the ice cream. As they left, Virgil sighed in slight relief, offering Roman a hand as well. “Why…Why did you stop Logan from saying anything? I mean, thanks, but…?”

“It wouldn’t mean much if Logan just called you out now.” Roman shrugged, staring at Virgil’s hand. He didn’t truly trust Virgil very much right now, but it was the easiest and safest way back. So, Roman begrudgingly climbed on. “You’d just be more mad at Logan and we’d all ruin Patton’s mood. And now when Patton inevitably finds out he’ll just be even more disappointed with you.”

Virgil didn’t say anything as he carried Roman into the kitchen. He still thought he was in the right, but the thought of Patton being disappointed in him…Virgil shook his head. When he reached the kitchen, he put Roman down on the counter, turning the the large pile of ice cream with wide eyes. “How much did you guys get?”

Patton shrugged. “Not sure, but we just had to! There are so many flavors, Virgil. So many.” Patton grinned. He was so excited to try some.

“Go ahead, try some!” Thomas encouraged, handing Virgil and Patton each a spoon.

Roman looked around the counter, spotting Logan amongst the various containers. He limped over to him quickly.

“Did you say anything to Patton?” Roman asked in a near whisper, too quiet for humans to overhear.

“Not yet.” Logan matched his volume, sounding annoyed.

“Good.” Roman jabbed a finger into his chest meaningfully. “Not one. Word.”

“Or what?” Logan almost laughed, raising an eyebrow. He certainly wasn’t afraid of Roman.

“Logan, c’mon.” Roman pleaded. “I’m serious. I’m trying to help you here.”

“Well you’ve certainly got an odd way of showing it.” Logan scoffed.

“Virgil puts on a front, but he’ll come around.” Roman insisted. “Acting scary is just his defense mechanism.”

“So I noticed.” Logan rubbed his ribs with a wince.

“If you tell Patton, it’s just going to upset him.” Roman pointed out. “You don’t want that, do you?” Logan considered it for a moment, looking up at the human in question happily enjoying some ice cream.

“I’m not going to lie to Patton.” Logan admitted quietly.

“You don’t have to lie.” Roman said, understanding. After all, if Logan still felt guilty about the whole betrayal-cage scenario, of course he would feel uneasy about any more secrets from Patton. “Just … don’t bring it up, and I promise I’ll make sure you and Virgil are never left alone with each other again. I swear it.”

“Roman, look at your stature.” Logan reminded him. “We are no longer in charge. Do not go making promises you cannot keep.”

“Okay, fine. But look at it this way: “ Roman took a second to pause, careful of his wording, “Do you think… _maybe_ … you deserved it?”

Logan gave him an unamused glare. 

“I’m serious, Lo!” 

“Don’t call me that.”

“So, yes, Virgil doesn’t know his own strength.” Roman admitted. “And he certainly shouldn’t do it again and he’s definitely on an emo power trip, but at the same time… you did keep him captive. And lock him in a cage.”

Logan turned away from Roman, not deigning him with a response. Of course, there was a small part of Logan that agreed with what was being said. Logan knew he was a bad person, if he wasn’t still. Perhaps this was indeed a fit punishment.

“This is pretty good.” Virgil admitted as he ate another spoonful. And that was strange in and of itself. Eating with actual silverware. He was used to tinfoil and if not that, then his hands.

“This is the best!” Patton jumped up and down excitedly. “Oh! Logan, Roman, come get some ice cream! It’s great!” Patton said as he noticed the two by themselves.

“Uh…” Thomas looked back and forth between the spoon and the new borrowers. “How will they…eat it?”

“Ah, that’s quite alright, Patton.” Logan raised a hand in thanks. “We’ve both had ice cream before, and I doubt something that cold would be appropriate for our new forms.” Indeed, though it was early fall his apartment felt as though it was the middle of winter now that he produced so little body heat of his own.

“What!” Roman gasped, dramatically clutching his heart. “No ice cream? Are you mad? We could surf down an entire mountain of it at this scale! Doesn’t that thought fill you with a sense of excitement?”

“Sure.” Logan shrugged. “If I wished to die of hypothermia.”

“Aw, come on Logan! A little ice cream never hurt anyone! Right Virgil?” Patton asked as he took another bite. Virgil shrugged.

“You definitely wouldn’t die from it.” Virgil said, rolling his eyes.

“Again, how are we gonna do this?” Thomas was already trying to scoop some into everything from a mixing bowl to a teaspoon, trying to find something of relatively the right size.

“Thomas, if you could kindly stop making a mess of my kitchen that would be appreciated.” Logan sighed, taking a few steps forward to be closer. “I would suggest just scooping some out into one of the smaller bowls found in the upper left cupboard, and if the stature is tall enough it can be treated as a large cone.”

“You’re the boss, hoss.” Thomas did as instructed, placing the bowl between the two borrowers. Roman immediately dug in, using his hands to scoop some out and into his mouth.

“Ooh that’s cold!” Roman winced, shivering already.

“That’s what you get for using your hands for _that_.” Virgil chuckled. He turned to Thomas. “Logan’s got some tinfoil in that drawer over there if you can go get some?” Virgil pointed and asked.

Meanwhile, Patton brought his hands around Roman, though not enough that he was actually touching him. “It’s okay Roman, I’ll warm you up!”

“O-oh, ah, thank you Patton.” Roman said, feeling a bit of heat radiate off the palms invading his personal bubble.

“I  _meant_ to lick it like an ice cream cone. Like so.” Logan demonstrated by bending at the hip and leaning forward to give the mound a small lick.

“Well, now you look like a dog.” Roman pointed out, still shivering between Patton’s hands as melting ice cream dripped from his fingers. “So who looks stupid now?”

Thomas chuckled, listening to the two bicker as he grabbed the tinfoil for Virgil and handed it to him.

Virgil snickered at Roman’s remark, taking the tinfoil and tearing off a piece. He stopped to marvel for a moment how easy it was, before setting the rather large piece in front of the two shrunken humans. “If you want, you could try to make a spoon. It might make it a bit easier to eat.”

Patton grinned at Virgil’s idea. “Yeah! Here, I can show you how to do it.” He ripped another piece off and quickly molded it into a usable spoon. He held it up. “See? Do it just like that!”

“Ah…” Roman took a bit of tinfoil in his hands, looking down at it. Patton’s demonstration had been a bit too fast for him to follow, but Roman got the basic idea. He began to mold the material, tongue sticking out slightly as he concentrated.

Logan, however, had other plans. He pointed to the spoon in Patton’s hand. “Might I use that one, Patton?”

“Uh…” Patton looked back and forth between the human-sized spoon he had made and Logan. “I…guess…?” Patton set the tinfoil spoon down in front of Logan.

Virgil raised an eyebrow, watching Logan carefully. What was Logan planning? He didn’t actually believe he could use it, could he?

“Thank you.” Logan began to tear off a chunk of the handle of the spoon. There, Patton’s grip had bent the foil slightly, creating a divet. With just a few folds, the grooves left by the human’s fingerprints became a sort of bowl that was much more manageable. From there Logan could scoop out some of the ice cream that had begun to melt and slurp it if he so chose. Which he did, giving a quick demonstration to everyone watching.

“Aw, no fair.” Roman pouted, holding up his almost perfectly-formed spoon. “That’s cheating.”

“Yeah, you’re just being lazy.” Virgil said, trying his best not to full on glare at Logan. Patton hit him in the arm.

“Well, I thought that was really smart of you Logan! Borrowers need to use whatever resources they have in order to live and survive.” Patton praised, which Virgil grumbled at.

Logan’s smug look made Roman roll his eyes, taking a few bites of ice cream himself.


	8. I Have an Idea- Let's Split Up!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang's all here! So let's put them everywhere else!

The five of them ate in silence for a few minutes.

 “So..” Thomas decided to address the elephant in the room. “Why exactly did you all switch sizes?”

 Virgil and Patton shared a glance. “We have no idea,” Virgil said. “We just woke up like this, in both of their beds.” He pointed and Logan and Roman. “And they woke up in ours.”

 “I think perhaps the best course of action from here would be to do some research,” Logan suggested, setting his makeshift cup down. “The library will be our best bet.”

 “Okay, Hermione Granger.” Roman rolled his eyes.

 “I can take you to the library, Logan.” Thomas offered, being the only human that could drive.

 Virgil raised an eyebrow. “The library? As if you’re gonna find anything there. Wouldn’t it be better to look for clues in the places that we ended up?” Virgil pointed out and motioned to the area around him.

 “I mean…Virgil does have a good point.” Patton spoke up. “Don’t be mean though.” He added, not liking the tone Virgil had used.

 “…Sorry, Pat.”

 “Perhaps we should split up then,” Roman suggested, wanting to keep Virgil and Logan apart. “Logan and Thomas can go to the library, and the three of us can search the apartments.”

 “Excellent suggestion, Roman.” Logan looked to Thomas expectantly. Thomas, following the examples of Virgil and Patton, place his hand on the counter next to Logan. The shrunken human climbed onto Thomas’ palm, making sure to crouch in the center to avoid being thrown off. This turned out to be unnecessary, as Thomas lifted his hand at the speed of a grandmother’s electric scooter.

 “Have fun you two!” Patton waved.

 Logan waved for the both of them, Thomas too focused on the task at hand to even think of waving as the two disappeared into the hall. A moment later the front door closed and the three were left alone.

 Patton turned to Roman and Virgil, glancing between them. “Alright, so, how do we want to do this?” Patton asked.

 Virgil shrugged. “You and Roman could go back to his apartment and look around. I’ll stay here and do the same.” Virgil suggested, trying to appear nonchalant. But he had a plan.

 “Sounds good to me.” Roman smiled at Patton, hoping the human would be willing to bring him along.

 “Aw yeah! Some good ole’ fashioned Roman and Patton bonding!” Now that Patton wasn’t scared of Roman anymore, he was actually excited to spend some time with the former human. He laid his hand in front of Roman. “Shall we?” He giggled.

 “We shall.” Roman scampered onto Patton’s hand as quickly as his injured leg allowed.

 Patton held Roman close to his chest as he waved at Virgil with his free hand. “See ya later Virge!” Virgil waved back until the door shut and then turned to look at the apartment with a smirk on his face.

 He had just had the perfect idea for revenge for Logan. He would do exactly what was done to him, to Logan.  _Then_  Logan would finally understand how Virgil felt. All he had to do now, was find what he needed.

***

 Patton carefully made his way to Roman’s apartment, shutting the door behind him as he made his way into the bedroom. “So, this is where Virgil woke up?” Patton asked as he set Roman down on the desk.

 “Yup, in my bed.” Roman pointed to the hole in the wall from which he had emerged earlier this morning. “And I woke up somewhere in that dark maze.”

 Patton blinked. “Dark maze? Oh! You mean the walls?” Patton thought for a moment. “Right, I almost forgot, you woke up in my room.” Patton hummed, looking around the room. Wondering where they should start looking for clues.

 “I guess the bed would be a good first place to start?” Patton suggested, before picking Roman up again and bringing him over to the bed.

 Roman winced slightly as he was grabbed, but bit his tongue to keep from making any verbal protests. “Sounds good, Patton.” Roman all but hissed through clenched teeth.

 “Great!” Patton set Roman down and used his hands to scan over the bed. He hummed in concentration, despite not knowing what he was looking for. “Maybe you could look over near the pillows?”

 “Um, sure Patton.” Roman walked over near the pillow, not sure what to look for. The shrunken human slowly walked the perimeter of the pillow. He spotted nothing out of the ordinary. Then Roman tried to lift up the pillow. Though he tugged with all his might, it was too dense for Roman to even lift the corner.

 “Ah, a little help here, padre?” Roman requested sheepishly, trying not to feel disheartened at the fact he could not even move a pillow.

 Patton looked up, unable to keep the smile off his face. He chuckled as he came over towards the front of the bed. “Aw, I almost forgot how small you were.” He hadn’t even been a human a full day and yet he found himself forgetting what it was like to be Roman’s size. Patton probably should have been a bit more worried about that, but he was too caught up in everything else to give it much thought. “Here, I got it.”

 He lifted the pillow, only to blink in surprise when he saw a small piece of yellow paper underneath. “Is that yours?” He asked Roman since it was his bed and all.

 “No.” Roman frowned, taking a step closer to try and inspect it. It seemed to be some sort of sticky note. “I’ve never seen that before.”

 Patton hummed and grabbed the paper, turning it over and noticing the words on it. “Be gentle with the fragile and friendly with the meek?” Patton read aloud, looking at Roman with a questioning gaze.

 “What the heckity heck, 5 abs and one peck?” Roman frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

 “I have no idea…but if this isn’t yours that might mean it has something to do with all of this!” Patton exclaimed, he went over to place the note on the desk so they didn’t lose it. “Maybe that means there are some more around here too!”

 “Wonderful deduction, Watson!” Roman praised, being sincere.

 Patton blinked. “Watson?” Once again, another one of Roman’s names had him confused.

 “Oh, it’s a Sherlock Holmes reference,” Roman explained. “Watson is Sherlock’s beloved sidekick. The two are detectives who find clues to solve crimes.”

 “Oh!” Patton said, at least getting the gist of it. He started thinking about where the next clue could be. If he found one in Roman’s bed, then maybe… “There could be a clue in my bed!” Patton exclaimed out loud, turning to Roman with a grin.

 “It’s entirely possible.” Roman agreed. Although his face morphed more into one of unease as he realized _he_  would have to be the one to go to Patton’s room, considering Patton was just a little too large for the entrance now.

 “Although, unfortunately, I’m not sure I could find my way back there,” Roman admitted sheepishly. He also didn’t want to try, simply because his leg and ribs were already protesting the idea strongly.

 “That’s okay! I know the walls like the back of my hand, I can tell you which way to go! Besides, it’s not too far from here.” Patton said, not giving any warning as he scooped Roman up and placed him on the floor near the entrance. Patton sat down criss-cross behind him. “You should be able to hear my voice just fine too.”

 “How could I say no?” Roman chuckled, saying it aloud as a joke but on the inside really wondering how he could get out of this. Roman steeled himself, ignoring the way his bruises were once again dully throbbing after Patton’s sudden grasps. Slowly, Roman began to march almost like a toy soldier as best he could into the hole.

 “You got this Roman!” Patton grinned. “You’re gonna start by going straight and then once you reach a cross section, you’re gonna turn middle left. Okay?” Patton did his best to explain.

 “Okay!” Roman yelled back, but his agreement came too early. Roman paused in the darkness, already lost when he could still see the bedroom light shining behind him.  _What the heck was middle left?_  Roman made his best guess, hoping he wasn’t about to tumble down off a beam and fall a few stories.

 “Now what?” Roman called. Now that he had turned the corner, there was no light anywhere. Roman kept his hand firmly on the wall.

 “Now keep walking straight and turn right and then an immediate left!” Patton called out. Half of him did wish he could be with Roman through this. But he was sure Roman was doing fine.

 “Turn right, then left,” Roman muttered to himself, slowly walking forwards. “Right then left, right then left…” Roman paused at the first intersection. “…or was it left, then right?”

 Patton listened closely, furrowing his eyebrows when he heard Roman’s steps in the wrong place. “Um, Roman? I think you’re going the wrong way.” He called out.

 “What?” Roman paused, stopping in his movements. “You said left, right?”

 “I said right and  _then_  left.” Patton reminded him. “I think you’re on your way to the kitchen right now.” Seeing as Roman’s voice was somewhere between here and there.

 “Augh, sorry.” Roman corrected his mistake, backtracking and making the proper turns. It was a good thing Patton had told him to turn back; Roman thought he might’ve heard some scurrying sounds coming from the other direction. He shuddered, trying not to picture the multitude of grotesque creatures hiding in the dark. “Alright, right then left. Now what?”

 “Just one more right turn and you should be there!” Patton grinned when he heard Roman once again in the right place.

 Roman followed the directions, feeling the walls change texture underneath his fingertips but still unable to actually see anything.

 “Uh, Patton, is there any way for me to get some light in here?” Roman yelled down the hall.

 “Yeah, there should be a small plastic candle lamp next to the bed. Just press the button on top and it should turn on!”

 Roman felt around, tripping over various knick-knacks that were lying about. How much stuff did Patton  _have_  in here, anyways? After his legs had acquired a new set of bruises from all the furniture Roman ran into in the dark, Roman finally found the aforementioned button.

 As light filled the room, Roman slowly turned in a circle to take it all in. The walls seemed to be covered in discarded scraps of scrapbooking paper. The whole scene resembled that of a dollhouse room that someone also used as storage for craft supplies. Indeed, a surprising amount of things from thread to crayons were lying about the floor. A light blue scarf was laying in the corner, and Roman slowly realized the giant fabric pile served as Patton’s bed.

 Atop this scarf sat what appeared to be a fairly small (by human standards) greeting card, white with a golden border. Roman picked it up as best he could, opening it to read the cursive scarlet ink written inside.

 “True strength comes not from the individual, but from his friends.” Roman frowned, not sure what that could do with this whole curse business. However, there was no doubt in Roman’s mind that this was another clue.

 “Patton, I found something!” Roman called joyfully, beginning the trek back down the hall after he turned off the light.

 “That’s great!” Patton said, grinning. They were finally getting somewhere it seemed. He eyes caught a glance of something to his left and he looked up, only to be met with yet  _another_  yellow paper. Tilting his head, because he was sure that hadn’t been there before, he grabbed it and read what it said. “Observe in greater detail the ones that surround you.” Patton frowned, what did  _that_  mean. These notes sure were cryptic.


	9. It's Just a Flesh Wound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Patton take a moment to address their wounds, both old and new.

Roman panted, nearly getting lost in the dark again. He used the trick from his first time in the walls and just kept his hand running against the wall. By the time he saw the bedroom light, Roman’s legs were screaming at him to stop moving and just collapse right there on the ground. It took all of Roman’s strength to limp out into the giant room, leaning slightly on the wall for support.

“I’m back.” Roman gave a forced smile, holding up the card he found slightly.

Patton put his own note down, turning back towards Roman. “Great job kiddo!” He took the note from Roman, reading it to himself. Once again becoming confused as to what this could all mean. They were all different, after all. He turned back to Roman, intent on saying as much, but stopped as he took Roman’s stance in.

His mind wandered back to the note he had just gotten. “Roman? Are you okay?”

“Ah, well…” Roman chuckled awkwardly, though it ended in a slight wheeze as he felt the familiar pressure in his chest. “Not particularly, no.”

Patton reached out and scooped Roman up into his cupped hands. He looked closer at Roman, eyes going wide. How had he not seen it before? Roman looked… _awful_. His leg was at an awkward angle and limp. And his skin was discolored around his upper arms, just barely poking out of his sleeve. Without thinking, Patton lifted up Roman’s shirt, gasping at the amount of bruises on his chest and stomach.

“Roman…What-What  _happened_?” He asked softly, still in shock.

“A…variety of incidents.” Roman phrased it carefully, still not wanting to throw Virgil under the bus completely. He tried not to cry out at Patton’s inspection only aggravated some of the wounds. After all, Patton was just trying to help. “Tripping over some furniture, falling off of some furniture, the usual stuff I suppose.”

Patton let out a little whine in worry. “Oh Ro, I’m so sorry. I should have noticed sooner!” Patton stood up, being extra careful knowing Roman was injured. “We can deal with the notes later, we need to take care of this first.” Patton placed the notes on the desk with the first one.

“Where do you keep your first aid kit?” He asked, looking around the room as if it would pop out at him.

“In the bathroom.” Roman pointed to the doorway. Patton’s worry filled Roman with a small sense of relief; after all, it had been a long time since someone had actively shown care for Roman’s well-being.

“Okay.” He went to the bathroom, setting Roman down on the counter and getting the kit out. He opened it, looking through it. He glanced from Roman to the supplies, thinking. “Alright, um, we should probably wrap up your chest…do we need this gel? Would this help?” Patton asked, holding it up for Roman to see.

“I’m not actually sure.” Roman admitted. “I’ve never dealt with injuries like this before. Grab my phone, we can look up the proper treatment.”

“Okay.” Patton ran into the bedroom, looking around until he spotted Roman’s phone on his nightstand. He grabbed it and ran back to the bathroom. He placed the phone in front of Roman, not knowing how to work it. “Here you go.”

Roman began to type in his password and navigate to google. It was slow going, especially because Roman couldn’t lay on the counter’s surface without his bruised ribs flaring up. After finally finding the results on how to heal both bruised ribs and a sprained ankle, Roman was glad he was still alive. Most of the activities listed under ‘DO NOT’ he had been doing all day. This included things like straining yourself or doing any exercise that makes the pain worse. Whoops.

Fortunately, google also gave him some helpful solutions to help alleviate the pain.

“Alright, it looks like the main thing we need is ice.” Roman looked up from the phone screen.

“Ice, gotcha.” Patton went to the kitchen, trying to remember what Logan had done the day before for him. Patton opened the freezer, noticing the familiar ice pack Logan had used on him. He grabbed it and a small towel and ran back to the bathroom.

“Here we go!” Patton wrapped the ice pack in a towel and placed it behind Roman. “This was the same one I used yesterday to help my bruises.”

“Your bruises?” Roman repeated, currently trying to tug the ice pack so that it would lay on top of him. The internet had suggested putting it on top of his chest to numb the pain and lessen the swelling, which made sense why Roman’s chest had felt so tight. Ever since the incident he must have been swelling like a balloon.

Patton blinked, realizing what he had said, before looking down. “Um, yeah…most of it was from when you bumped into Logan. I took a pretty nasty fall, but…some of it was from…you, picking me up and stuff.” Patton revealed, rubbing the back of his neck. But he tried to force out a grin.

“But-But it’s okay now! You can’t hurt me like this!”

Roman blinked, holding the corner of the ice pack to his chest. Of course Patton would have bruises, too. Virgil had shown his earlier. It wasn’t like Roman was truly any better than Logan. In fact, if Roman wasn’t so small Patton would still hate him. Did that mean when everything went back to normal, Patton would still leave?

“Patton…” Roman’s voice cracked slightly. Even though the ice felt soothing on his aching muscles, this guilty feeling made the tightness in his chest stay. “Patton, I am so sorry. For everything. I never meant to hurt you and I certainly never want to hurt you again.”

Patton paused, frowning. “I…” Tears started forming in his eyes as he suddenly thought back to his time with Roman before. He started to shake as he quickly wiped his tears away. “I don’t…I don’t want to think about that right now.” Patton shook his head, more to clear his thoughts.

“Everything is fine right now and that’s all that matters, right?” Patton smiled, but it was still off.

Roman wasn’t so sure. After all, it would be best if they talked about this. He didn’t want Patton to feel threatened when Roman was back to being a human. But he didn’t want to drive Patton away now either, so he kept his lips sealed about the past.

“Patton,” Roman asked softly, instead focusing on the present, “are we friends?”

“O-Of course Roman! You’re too cute like this for us not to be!” Patton said, his smile was a bit more real now, but still held some force to it.

Roman nodded, but his heart wasn’t in it. He shifted under the ice pack to make sure both his ribs and his leg were getting numbed.

“But are we still going to be friends?” Roman pressed on, letting his anxious feelings show.

“W-What do you mean?” Patton asked, confused but also having some idea.

“I mean, when _\- if_ \- things ever go back to… the way they used to be.” Roman gestured to the two of them. “When we’re our respective normal sizes again.”

Patton stared off to the side again. “I…I really  _do_  want to say yes but I…” The memories came rushing back and Patton started shaking all over again. Patton let out a shaky breath. “Like this, I can picture you as different people…human Roman and borrower Roman. It makes it easier to push away the memories of human Roman with you small like this.” Patton sighed.

“You seem really fun Roman, you do. I feel like we would be great friends, either way, but…I-I’m  _scared_  Roman…”

“…you’re scary, too.” Roman muttered, almost not loud enough for the human to hear.

Patton completely froze at that. “W-What?”

“I mean, not all the time.” Roman retracted his statement slightly, not wanting to offend Patton after they had come so far. Patton had even called him a friend; so why was Roman so insistent on pushing Patton’s buttons?

“It’s just, well…” Roman sighed, deciding to come clean. “Maybe not all these bruises are from falling off the coffee table, alright? You’re really grabby, and a lot of the times you’re not very careful, but I didn’t want to say anything because I was just  _so glad_  that you actually liked me for once that I didn’t want to drive you away.”

Patton blinked. “…O-Oh…” He looked down at his hands, his _human_ -sized hands. Had he really been so bad? Thinking back on it…yeah, he had. He hadn’t been thinking, honestly, he had just…done it.

Was it true? Had he really acted almost exactly like how Roman had first acted? “I never wanted to…I mean-I…”

“No, I know you didn’t, Pat!” Roman was quick to try and reassure the human. “Of course you wouldn’t  _try_  to hurt me, you’re far too nice. You’re like a cotton candy cloud of kindness. That’s what made it even harder to say anything, because I didn’t want you to feel bad about it, either. I mean, accidents happen. I know I screwed up and didn’t notice.” Roman gave an unprincely snort. “I figured this was a good way for karma to get me back.”

“What? No! You don’t-you don’t  _deserve_  this. No one does!” Patton wiped the rest of his tears away. “I never would wish that what happened to me would happen to you. You may have…messed up and…really scared me, but you still didn’t deserve  _any_  of this.” Patton looked down again.

“I’m sorry I made you feel this way and hurt you…I should have been more  _careful_  and paid more attention…” Patton was starting to understand  _why_  Roman had acted how he did. Being a human, in the presence of someone so much smaller, was _hard_.

“Patton, it’s alright.” Roman shifted the ice pack. “I forgive you. Although, ah, moving forward your more careful actions would be most appreciated.” Roman looked a bit sheepish. “I never realized how every little human thing can affect a guy when he’s this tall.”

“Yeah…that’s why I should have been more careful. Even a ‘gentle’ poke can be enough to leave a bruise.” Patton sighed. “I’ll be better, I promise.” He paused for a moment, thinking.

“And if-no- _when_  we turn back to normal, and I know we will, I’d…like to give our friendship a chance. If you want, of course. You might have to be patient with me though…because I’m still gonna be scared…”

“Patton, I swear on this ice pack that I will be the most patient human you have ever seen.” Roman placed his palm on the ice to make it official, eyes crinkling with excitement as he gazed up at Patton. “I understand now the amount of trust that will take, and I promise you’re putting it in the right person. Because that’s what friends are for.”

Patton grinned, a real grin. “I know.” He said, referring to Roman’s second to last statement. Patton clapped, feeling refreshed after their talk. “Now! Let’s finish patching you up and then get back to Virgil, Logan, and Thomas!”


	10. Borrowers Make Bad Bookmarks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas and Logan get some research done at the library.

“Uh, Thomas.” Logan suggested quietly once the two were in the hall. “It’s not wise for me to be out in the open.”

“Oh, right.” Thomas turned a slight pink, having forgotten the borrower rules already. It was hard earlier to remember Patton had been a borrower at all; he had blended in at the grocery store so well in Logan’s NASA pajamas. The bare feet had been a little odd, but Thomas had learned that several borrowers went barefoot daily. Go figure.

“We’ll stop by my apartment.” Thomas assured him, hurrying down the steps to do just that. Thankfully no other neighbors were there. Of course, there were no other neighbors in the building, now that Thomas thought about it; Roman lived on the 5th floor, Logan on the 4th, himself on the 3rd, and the 1st and 2nd floors remained unoccupied. Weird.

“Okay, how do we want to do this?” Thomas asked, having never carried a borrower discretely before.

“Well…” Logan pondered the various methods of travel. “From what has been told to me, a pocket is often the most comfortable.”

“A pocket, huh?” Thomas wandered into his closet, searching for any shirts with a chest pocket. Finally spotting one, Thomas set Logan out in the living room and returned to his bedroom to change.

“How’s this?” Thomas re-emerged, dressed and ready for the day.

“Ah, perfect.” Logan only now felt slightly uneasy about this situation. After all, once they were out in public it would be impossible to talk to Thomas. However, this was all for the best. If they were successful Logan would never have to ride in a pocket again.

Thomas gently picked up Logan, setting him into the pocket. “How is it?” Thomas asked, trying to peer down into it.

Logan squirmed, trying to get comfortable. “A bit like a heavyweight hammock. So not entirely unpleasant, I suppose.” Thomas’ chuckle shook Logan from all sides as he was pressed against the human’s chest.

“Okay then, we’re off!” Thomas locked his front door, hopping into his car and taking the familiar road down to the University library. Thomas hummed, looking at the wide selection of literature awaiting him. He wasn’t sure what exactly would be helpful, so Thomas pulled a bit of everything from the shelves: fantasy stories, conspiracy theories, law practices, various mythologies, and even a few books on riddles.

Thomas retreated to his familiar corner, noticing two people sat a good distance away and plugged into their headphones. Just in case, Thomas chose the thickest volume first so that Logan would be hidden from sight.

“Alright, Logan.” Thomas whispered, opening to the first page.

Logan grunted, pulling himself up so he could peek out of the pocket. His eyes began to scan the pages, registering that this was some encyclopedia on curses and hexes. Logan rolled his eyes but read it anyway.

“Page turn.” Logan requested when he was finished.

“Oh, hang on a sec, I’m nearly there.” Thomas was a slower reader than Logan, so Logan was forced to wait a few agonizing minutes before the large pages before him slowly shuffled to the next page. This slow cycle continued. Eventually Logan found himself tuning out the page contents entirely. Though Logan was an avid reader, fantasy was never one of his interests.

“Wait, what’s that?” Logan’s interest was reawakened when an index card fluttered to the desk below. It had been stuck within the pages of the book. Thomas picked it up, inspecting it.

“I’m not sure.” Thomas squinted at the tiny print. “It’s too small to read.”

“Something tells me I may be of use in this instance.” Logan pointed out. It was nice to feel useful for once, having spent so long as what was basically an accessory on Thomas’ shirt.

“Knock yourself out.” Thomas carefully put the index card in with Logan.

Though it was dark in the interior of the pocket, it was easy enough for Logan to make out the pencil lead markings. “Being small doesn’t mean being helpless.” Logan read aloud quietly to himself, not wanting to disturb Thomas’ own reading. Logan supposed this must be some form of poetic irony, given the font size of the text. He committed the phrase to memory before handing the index card as large as himself back to Thomas.

The silent reading time continued. Thomas began to flip through book after book, no longer taking the time to read every page and instead just skipping the contents for any sort of clue.

Logan had no chance of keeping up with the quick transitions. Instead, Logan laid down in the pocket. It truly was like a hammock. It was soft, providing just the right mixture of warmth and comfort. Logan yawned. Though it couldn’t be later than the early evening, already Logan was feeling very tired. Perhaps this had something to do with his irregular sleep schedule the past few days and the fact he had woken up only a few inches tall. Whatever the case, Logan reasoned that it would do no harm to briefly shut his eyelids.

“What are you doing?” Professor Dee asked, peering over Thomas’ shoulder.

“What? Nothing!” Thomas quickly shut the book by instinct, turning over his shoulder. “Oh, hello professor.”

“Do I need to repeat myself?” Dee raised an eyebrow, clearly not in the mood for chitchat.

“No, sir. Um…” Thomas looked down at his materials, trying to decide how to explain this. “I was just…researching.”

“Researching  _what_?” Dee waved his hand, making it clear he wanted Thomas to elaborate.

“Oh, just some things for a project with Logan.” Thomas explained, standing up. He began packing the notebooks away.

“With Logan?” The professor took newfound interest in Thomas’ studying materials, causing Thomas to clean up faster before he could get a good look and put together the pieces. “And where is Logan? He was not in class earlier today and I need to discuss an important matter with him, possibly regarding this…’research’. He should remember not to fall out of my graces, for his own sake.”

“Professor, I am not Logan’s keeper.” Thomas countered, briefly realizing that’s exactly what he was at the moment. “You should contact him yourself.”

“Maybe I will.” Dee murmured. Thomas couldn’t tell if it was just his imagination or if Dee’s eyes had traveled to his pocket.

“Well in that case I best be going!” Thomas rushed to shove the last few items away, slinging his bag over his shoulder in a hurry. “Goodbye, professor!”

Thomas ran out into the hallway, getting far out of sight before he allowed himself to take a breath. Dee had always creeped him out.

“I’m sorry about that, Logan…Logan?” Thomas was about to tell Logan that his findings were inconclusive when he noticed the borrower had actually fallen asleep. Thomas allowed himself a few moments to merely stare, overtaken by the cuteness.

“I guess you really were tired, if you slept through all that.” Thomas whispered, walking out to his car. He winced at the loud roar of the engine coming to life, but Logan only shifted slightly in his pocket before staying asleep the whole ride home.

As much as Thomas wanted to allow Logan to sleep forever, Thomas had to remember he was still a college student. He had his only class of the day in an hour and Thomas had yet to get dinner. No, it would be best to drop off Logan with Virgil and Patton where the borrower would be safe. Thomas could stop by after class to help again later.


	11. Virgil's Going Through A Rough Patch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil? You doing okay there, bud? I'm sure that phone call isn't helping but uuuuuuh maybe we could set down the torture tools?

Virgil started around the apartment, trying to find the supplies he needed. He found the beaker in the kitchen, up against the wall. He took it and brought it back to the room, placing it on the desk. The beaker was the main part of it, but he needed everything for it to be authentic. He snapped his fingers when he remembered the gloves and went back to the kitchen.

If he remembered correctly then the gloves should be in a drawer. One close to the one he had been caught in. He opened a few, but frowned when he didn’t see any. He ended up looking through all the drawers, still nothing. He groaned. Logan must have placed them somewhere else.

His next guess was that it was in one of the desk drawers. Thankfully, it was. And he also found another thing he needed, a notebook and pencil. However, getting curious, he opened the notebook only to realize this had been the notebook Logan had been using when studying _him_.

He couldn’t help but read what Logan had written and as he flipped through it, he got angrier and angrier. He knew Logan had done this before, when he had intended to show off his findings and Virgil. But that didn’t make it any better. Especially when he came across some of Logan’s more… _opinionated_  ‘facts’.

Tears blurred Virgil’s vision as he felt himself fall back into yesterday. When it was still a very real possibility that all these things could have gotten out and his kind would have been discovered. His body started to shake as he went back to when he was trapped inside that beaker, at the complete mercy of a human who didn’t care about him for _him_  but for what he was.

With a mangled cry he ripped a page out of the notebook, throwing it to the floor. He froze, realizing what he had just done. But also realizing that it had felt  _good_. He tore another page out and then another and before he knew it half the journal was on the floor in half torn crumpled up pieces of paper.

Breathing heavy, he was about to rip another piece of paper, but froze. There was a smaller, crumpled up piece of scratch paper taped on the inside of the next page. Frowning, he grabbed it and turned it over, reading the words on the back. “Revenge is never the answer.” He read aloud.

He laughed. “Yeah, okay.” He ripped the paper in half and let it join the others on the floor. He shut the notebook, placing it next to the beaker. The rest of the pages were now empty and it would be perfect, using the same notebook Logan had used.

He quickly grabbed a fairly hefty book and placed it on the desk as well, before taking a step back to look over the things he had gotten. He noticed Logan’s phone on the desk as well and thought about taking pictures of Logan like he had done to him, but decided against it. He didn’t want any evidence of borrowers anywhere.

Just then, though, the phone in Virgil’s hand started to ring. He blinked looking down at it to see that the caller idea said ‘Professor Dee’. Recognizing the name and panicking slightly, he looked over his options not sure which one was the ignore button. He took a guess and pressed the green button.

“Logan.” Dee’s voice rang through the bedroom, sounding stern and annoyed. He didn’t even give Virgil the opportunity to respond before launching into a rant. “I missed your presence in class today. I hope you don’t make a habit of skipping out on important matters. Specifically, I am calling to remind you of the business you were supposed to take care of with me this afternoon. The fact that you have found your cellular device does not negate the fact I want that cage back, and the occupants as well.”

Virgil’s eyes widened as his choice had been the wrong one and Dee began to speak. The last line especially was not sitting right with him. “W-What?” Was all he managed to get out. Had Logan changed his mind about everything? Virgil wouldn’t put it past him.

“Logan?” Dee repeated when he didn’t get a true response. “Don’t make the wrong choice again. I’m not a patient man.”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Virgil decided to say, only half lying at this point.

Now Dee actually paused, realizing this was not Logan on the other end after all. “To whom do I have the…  _pleasure_  of speaking?”

“Uh…no one?” Virgil said, wincing. He should just hang up the phone right now, but if he did that, Dee might become suspicious and then what would happen? Would he try to come to Logan’s apartment? That was the last thing _any_  of them needed.

Besides, he had no idea how to end the call anyway.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Dee spat, his eye roll clearly eminent in his voice. “I know this is one of my student’s cellular devices, Logan Sanders. Now state your name and your business with said device or I will report you to the proper authorities for theft.”

 _Oh shoot,_  that _was definitely the last thing they needed._ “M-My name is Virgil…I’m Logan’s brother?” Virgil wanted to slap himself at the lie. Because it was a terrible one and because he would not want to be Logan’s brother. Ever.

“Logan never informed me of a brother.” Dee hummed.

“We, uh, never really spoke to each other.” Virgil paused. “Until, um, now, that is.”

“Hmm.” Whether or not Dee believed his lie was unclear. “Well _, Virgil,_ tell your brother that I called and that if he still values his future in my master’s program he should give me a call back.”

“Uh, yeah. Sure, will do.” Virgil would definitely bring this up, alright. He thought as he grit his teeth.

“Good.” Without so much as a proper goodbye, Dee hung up the phone.

Virgil put the phone down, a slight rewrite of his plans forming in his mind. By the sounds of it, Logan had betrayed them even further. Had _lied_ to all of them. He was planning on turning in the cage and its  _occupants_ over to Dee. Himself and Patton. Wonderful.

It was then that Virgil heard a knock at the door and calmed himself down enough to go and answer it. He was somewhat happy to see Thomas. “Hey.”

“Shh.” Thomas whispered, putting a finger to his lips. He slowly pulled Logan out of his pocket, the borrower still unconscious. “Logan’s asleep.”

“Oh.” Virgil just barely kept the smirk off his face. “Well, are you coming in or…?”

“Sorry.” Thomas gave an apologetic shrug. “I can’t, I still have class tonight and I probably shouldn’t skip. I’m just here to drop off Logan, but I’ll be back to help some more after if you guys need me.” He held out Logan in his palms.

Virgil had to keep himself from grinning, this was just too perfect. “Okay.” He grabbed Logan from Thomas’ hands. “Roman and Patton should be here soon, so I’ll…watch over Logan for the time being. Thanks.”

“Thank you, Virgil.” Thomas waved goodbye, flashing him a grateful smile. “You really are a saint.”

Virgil hummed and waved back. “See ya later.” He closed the door when Thomas was gone and grinned. He stared down at Logan as he went back into the bedroom. His grin turned into a frown as he was once again reminded of everything as he saw the phone. Well, looks like it was time to wake Logan up.


	12. Revenge Is Best Served Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil has had quite enough of Logan, thank you very much.

Smirking, Virgil poked Logan’s side. “Logan, wake up.” He said.

 Logan let out a groan, startled by the pressure to his side. He sat up slightly, rubbing at his eyes beneath his glasses before taking in his surroundings. Looking up at Virgil and realizing this hadn’t all been some elaborate dream, Logan turned an ashen gray. “…oh.”

 “Yeah, ‘oh’ is right. And guess what?” Virgil leaned in real close. “It’s just the two of us now.”

 Logan tried to back away but was stopped when he collided with Virgil’s curled fingers forming a wall. Why were they alone? Where had Thomas gone? Why had he ever listened to that idiot Roman? He should have told Patton when he still had the chance.

 “They’ll come back for me,” Logan said, although even he wasn’t so sure. Had everyone agreed this was for the best? Was it a group decision to sacrifice him to Virgil?

 Virgil hummed. “Maybe, but by then it’ll have been too late.” Virgil changed his grip so he was now holding Logan in a fist. “You’ll already be broken. Just like  _I_ was.” He moved the beaker closer and dropped Logan inside, watching him through the glass.

 “This look familiar to you?”

 Logan tumbled against the smooth glass, hitting his head in the fall on the wall hard enough to certainly leave a bump. He groaned, putting a hand to his head as he stood up. Looking at Virgil through the glass distorted the view, making Virgil appear even more ghastly and threatening than before.

 “Yes.” Logan was hesitant, but he knew he couldn’t get away without giving Virgil answers.

 “Hmm, thought so. How about  _this_.” Virgil picked up the notebook and held it up, waving it in Logan’s line of sight. “Hope you don’t mind, but I sorta destroyed everything in it.” Virgil opened up the journal, revealing the ripped pages. He shrugged and kicked the paper at his feet for good measure.

 “That’s fair,” Logan admitted. Though he hated seeing one of his beloved notebooks torn to shreds, he did have to destroy the borrower evidence kept inside anyways. Hopefully, it had at least been therapeutic for Virgil to be the one to do it.

 Virgil glared at him, having hoped for a better reaction. He huffed and took a seat at the desk. He grabbed the gloves and made a show of putting them on, before grabbing a pencil and opening the notebook in front of him. “…I wonder how tall you are?” Virgil asked out loud, pretending to look deep in thought as he looked Logan over.

 “Oh, but would you look at that, you’re moving way too much to be able to get an accurate reading,” Virgil said, despite the fact Logan was completely still. He reached his hand in, and in similar fashion to what Logan had done to him, pressed him up against the glass. “There we go.” He went ahead and wrote down the number.

 Logan let out a slight groan, his head injury pressing up against the glass in an uncomfortable fashion. “…how tall am I?” Logan had the guts to say, curious about if his borrower height differed from Virgil’s.

 “Huh, you’re actually my height. Or, er, my borrower height.” Virgil said before he blinked and glared at Logan. “Wait a second, no!” He took his hand away, letting Logan fall to the bottom of the glass again.

 “You’re supposed to be  _scared_. Not asking me  _questions_.” Virgil growled out. Why did Logan have to be so  _frustrating_?

 “Oh, I am scared.” Logan clarified, brushing off his clothing. And he was, but Logan knew this was mostly instinctual fear and thus could be suppressed. Also, the glass barrier between them made Logan feel a bit bolder. “But I also know you’re not going to hurt me. Of course, that’s assuming your own word can be trusted.”

 “No, no,  _no_.” Virgil shook his head. “You’re supposed to be panicking and shaking and-and crying _just like I was!_ ” This wasn’t working, his idea wasn’t working. Fine, new plan. 

 Virgil stood up so he was towering over Logan. He took off the gloves before reaching in and grabbing Logan in a fist, taking him out and holding him close to his face. “ _Fine_. Then let’s talk, hmm? Because I just got a  _very_  interesting call from a certain someone just before you got here.”

 “Wait, what?” Logan was now nervous, not sure what was going on. At least when Virgil was doing his little bit of repeating Logan’s own actions, Logan could predict what would happen next. The uncertainty was a mystery Logan didn’t wish to explore.

 “Yeah. Professor Dee. You know, the one you were going to show me off to? Well, he called about wanting his cage back…and the occupants inside.” Virgil glared and tightened his grip a little more, not enough to hurt him though. “He told me you had discussed it before.” Virgil shook his head.

 “Looks like I was right about you after all.”

 “L-Let me explain myself!” Logan spoke up frantically, feeling the grip slowly tightening around him. “It was when we were searching for my phone. The dean began to threaten me and asked for me to give him both in exchange for knowledge about the phone’s whereabouts.”

 “But-!” Logan rapidly finished his explanation. “I only agreed to his deal because he asked for the cage and its  _current_  occupants. You and Patton were safely in Roman’s care at the time, so all I promised was an empty cage. Which I was planning on returning, regardless.”

 “And  _why_  should I believe you?” Virgil asked, throwing his free hand up for emphasis. He then pointed it at Logan. “You already planned on doing it once before, I can’t imagine it would be too hard to convince you to do it again.” He thought back to another thing Dee had said. “Especially if it counted towards your masters program, which you seem to care a lot about.” Anything to do with school, it seemed Logan cared a lot about.

 “Virgil, you know how I acted,” Logan argued. “You are the one individual who saw me at my worst. I was calloused and calculating and cruel. My sole motivation in life was to impress Professor Dee and get myself into that masters program. That presentation was my best chance, and all I had to do was give you up. Certainly, if I was going to turn you in that was the optimal time to do it. So why didn’t I do it then?”

 “I don’t know! Maybe you actually did have a change of heart there for a while, maybe not. Either way, how do I know that Dee didn’t convince you to just do it? You were adamant on keeping us after all, of putting us in this cage.” He motioned towards the cage. “Maybe Dee said you’d be able to keep Patton if you turned me in! Because  _clearly_ , you liked him much better than me, what with how Patton is way too friendly for his own good and you could take advantage of that.”

 “I wasn’t trying to take advantage of Patton!” Logan insisted. “I was trying to positively bond with both of you, but given my behavior upon our first meeting, it’s no surprise my efforts failed there. But regardless of my failures, I had- _have_ \- no intention of turning  _either_  of you into that insane failure of a scholar.”

 Virgil grit his teeth. “ _Fine_ , let’s say I believe you. That doesn’t negate the fact you still wanted to  _keep_  us, even as Roman agreed to let us go. You simply agreed because you knew you wouldn’t be able to stop Roman, but if it wasn’t for him both Patton and I would be sitting in that cage.”

 “For your own good!” Logan blurted out, before realizing that Virgil would not see it the same way.

 Virgil’s eyes twitched. “For our… _own good_.” Virgil stared at Logan. “And what could you  _possibly_  mean by  _that_?” Virgil growled, his anger quickly becoming out of control.

 “W-Well…” Logan whimpered slightly, leaning as far back as Virgil’s fist allowed. “You kept hurting yourself trying to escape, and I thought…if there was someplace you could stay without being able to harm yourself…” Logan trailed off; even he noticed how weak his argument sounded.

 “Harming myself-? Wait.” Virgil raised an eyebrow. “You mean when I was running against the beaker, right? Well, newsflash nerd, but I  _wouldn’t_  be trying to harm myself if I hadn’t been trying to escape.” Virgil sighed.

 “You  _really_  think keeping me trapped would have fixed that? No.” Virgil sneered, bringing Logan closer. “Any other reasons you think it would have been ‘good’ for us?”

 “S-Shelter?” Logan cringed, trying to offer up all his reasons so that maybe Virgil would take pity on him. Of course, both knew that was highly unlikely. “Food? Water? Higher standard of living? Warmth? Protection?”

 Virgil leaned back, narrowing his eyes. “…Are you saying we can’t take care of ourselves? That we’re completely helpless when it comes to surviving? Besides, even if we were, what  _right_  do  _you_ have to make that decision for us? Huh?”

 “I-I know that now!” Logan backpedaled. “It’s a common human error, assuming a lesser species is incapable of sustaining itself. I had no right to try and interfere with the delicate borrower ecosystem.”

 “No, you didn’t.” Virgil was getting tired of this. He couldn’t tell for sure whether Logan was saying was the truth or not. For all Virgil knew, everything he said could be a lie, a way to save himself from Virgil. Virgil stood up, Logan still in hand.

 He silently made his way to the door, opening it and heading up the stairs, past the fifth floor and still going.

 “Uh, V-Virgil?” Logan asked quietly, trying to duck down. He was worried by Virgil’s behavior. Usually, Virgil was so focused on keeping borrowers a secret, yet now he carried Logan out into the stairwell without a care in the world. Logan’s concern only grew when he noticed them pass Roman’s floor. There was only one thing above the 5th floor: the roof.

 Virgil had been to the roof many times as a borrower. It was peaceful, especially at night and it allowed him a quiet space to think. Virgil looked up, the stars were out and looking down below, there didn’t seem to be anyone out and about. It was just Virgil and Logan outside tonight.

 Perfect.

 Logan shivered, a cold breeze blowing over his head. The altitude made the air especially freezing on his tiny frame.

 “Virgil, why are we up here?” Logan asked, hating the look on Virgil’s face and the fact the human wasn’t answering his questions.

 Virgil didn’t answer, instead going over to the edge of the building. He did smirk at the fear in Logan’s voice though. His other plan hadn’t worked, hadn’t caused as much fear as he had hoped. Nowhere close to what he had felt. So…maybe  _this_  would.

 He reached the hand holding Logan out, past the edge of the building.

 A drop of five stories if Virgil were to let go.


	13. I Hope You're Satisfied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Perhaps we all need a quiet moment to reflect on what has happened.

 “V-Virgil!” Logan quickly tried to grasp onto Virgil’s fingers so that if Virgil let go he wouldn’t immediately fall. Logan didn’t dare look down at the drop that might be his fate, instead staring only at Virgil’s face. Virgil wouldn’t really do it…would he? His face was unreadable, especially in the dark. Virgil had said he only wanted to scare Logan, but that was before the phone call with Dee. Logan gulped. The shrunken human had noticed a change in Virgil’s behavior, almost as if Virgil had fully snapped in half. Perhaps Virgil’s end game had changed.

 Virgil raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong Logan? Scared?” He smirked.

 “ _Yes._ ” Logan all but screeched. If all it took for this to end was for Logan to admit he was scared, Logan would do it in a heartbeat. And he just did. “Virgil, please, think about this. I thought you didn’t want to hurt me. W-what if your fingers slip?”

 “What? You mean like this?” Virgil let his pointer finger and thumb grip the fabric of Logan’s shirt, before letting the rest of his fingers loose. Logan was now hanging over the edge by just his shirt.

 “No!” Logan cried out, desperately trying to swing his legs up or reach his arms back to get a solid grasp on Virgil’s digits. It was no use, and with a jolt, Logan felt himself slowly starting to slip out of his shirt.

 “Virgil,  _please_!” Quickly Logan switched tactics, clinging to the garment because his life depended on it. Logan’s eyes began to water. Tears began to stream down Logan’s face as he began to desperately plead for his life as if he had any control over whether or not Virgil released him to plummet to the cement several stories below. “Virgil, I don’t want to die. I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry I’m so sorry Virgil please don’t kill me please no  _VIRGIL-!_ ”

 Virgil should have been happy, having finally broken Logan, having finally shown him the fear he had gone through, but…he didn’t. It felt  _bad_. No, it felt worse than bad, he felt-he felt absolutely  _awful_. Logan’s cries were painful to listen to, absolutely  _heartbreaking._

 What on earth was he  _doing?_

 He quickly but carefully brought Logan to his chest and backed several feet away from the edge. Now that he was thinking more clearly… _what had he been thinking?!_  What if his hand  _had_  slipped? What if Logan managed to slip out of his shirt? What then? Logan  _would_ have…

 “Shh, it’s okay, I’m sorry. I’m not going to hurt you, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Virgil tried to reassure Logan. Wanting to get away from the roof, Virgil started back downstairs and back to Logan’s apartment, still cradling Logan close to his chest.

 The tear stains on Logan’s cheeks had frozen in the chilly rooftop air, creating an unpleasant sensation on his skin. Of course, this was hardly a problem, as the new tears just washed away the tracks once they were inside the building. It seemed once the tears started, Logan couldn’t stop them. Almost as if his many years of not expressing emotions had been bottling up tears for this very moment.

 _You’re alive_. Logan tried to comfort himself. The tears kept falling.

 Virgil shut the door behind him and raced to the bedroom. Logan was feeling cold, which made sense seeing as how it had been  _very_ cold outside, and so he placed him on the bed. Moving the covers so Logan could use them and then ran to the bathroom real quick, grabbing a tissue and coming back. He winced at Logan’s tears, looking away as he placed the tissue near Logan. He didn’t say anything.

 Logan tucked himself into the small crease in the blankets, allowing them to fall around him and begin to warm up his shaking limbs. Logan pulled the tissue closer, using the corner to wipe at his eyes. Slowly it seemed Logan ran out of tears, and with a slight hiccup, Logan wiped his face one final time with the tissue.

 Virgil didn’t know what to say. What  _could_  he say? What he did had been awful. He had been so blinded by his anger that he had really almost _killed_  Logan. All it would have taken was a simple mistake and the former human before him would no longer be here.

 Not even Logan deserved that.

 First Roman and now Logan… “Maybe I did deserve everything that happened to me.” He muttered. And then, a little louder, he said, “because I was wrong.  _That_  was wrong and I am…so sorry.”

 Logan only nodded, still clearly in shock as he stared at a spot of nothingness in the distance. He shuddered, pulling the edges of blankets tighter around his chest as if they could offer some form of protection.

 Virgil sighed but hadn’t expected Logan to talk. “…Do you need anything?” He asked, echoing what he had said this morning to Roman.

 Logan paused in consideration before giving another nod.

 “Okay, um…” Instead of trying to get Logan to tell him what he wanted, he left the room a got a little of everything. Just as he had done for Roman. He placed the pile he had gathered at the end of the bed, looking back at Logan.

 “Alright, so I have some water, food, I found a heating pad? If you want that?” Virgil asked, holding it up.

 Logan shook his head. He didn’t want any of those things. Instead, he motioned to himself and then whooshed his arms in another direction just as Virgil had done back when they first met.

 Virgil deflated, recognizing the gesture and knowing exactly what it meant. “…You want to leave, don’t you?”

 Logan gave a simple nod. He now understood why, as a borrower, Virgil had been so desperate to get away. When the adrenaline brought on by fear was still fresh in your veins, a human presence felt overwhelming no matter  _what_  their intentions.

 “Well, okay, but um…” Virgil looked from Logan to the floor. “No offense but uh…how are you going to get down?”

 Logan gave Virgil a glare, feeling offended anyways. Since his limbs were warmed up, Logan decided to prove himself. He moved out from under the covers over to where the comforter draped all the way to the ground. This way, even if he fell a pile of blankets were beneath him. Logan grabbed onto the thick fabric, jumping off the edge of the bed and sliding down.

 It took everything in Virgil’s power not to dive over there to grab Logan, to stop him. But he didn’t, he simply watched, though he did move closer a few steps just in case.

 After a few moments Logan landed safely on the ground, the only injury gained was a slight rug burn on his hands. Logan tried to look smugly up at Virgil, but the further back he craned his neck the less confident he felt. The shrunken human crossed his arms, hoping to look more confident and hide his shaking as he stepped back against the bed frame.

 For Logan’s benefit, Virgil ignored the shaking. “Huh, impressive.” He knew that had been quite the distance for the shrunken human. Especially since he had no borrower skill.

 Logan gave him a nod in acknowledgment.

 Virgil nodded back as he fidgeted slightly. “So, uh…Where are you gonna go?” If Logan wanted to get away for a little while, sure, that was fine. But it would make Virgil a little _too_  anxious not knowing where Logan was.

 Logan paused, having not thought this far ahead. Where did a borrower go to get away? Should Logan go there, too? He wanted somewhere far away from Virgil, someplace safe and out of a human’s reach…

 Getting an idea, Logan began to walk towards the doorway, taking the long way around where he pressed himself up against the wall to keep as much distance from Virgil at all times as possible.

 Virgil didn’t move but continued to watch Logan closely as he walked. “Um…?”

 Logan didn’t bother answering as he entered the hall, turning the corner to get out of Virgil’s line of sight.

 Virgil bit his lip. Logan wanted to be alone, so he really shouldn’t be following him…but at the same time, a number of things could happen if Virgil let Logan go off on his own completely. If Logan had been born a borrower, it would be fine. But a human at that size, having only very little idea on how things were…yeah, no. Virgil didn’t want to take any chances.

 Virgil walked until he was in the doorway, scanning the floor until he saw Logan still walking.

 Logan knew where he wanted to go and didn’t let the trembles of Virgil’s footsteps deter him. Logan wasn’t sure if Virgil would try to stop him, so he began to walk more quickly towards his target: the trapdoor in the floor.

 The wood plank was still slightly uneven from when Patton had lifted it this morning, which reminded Logan that this was not a perfect safe haven. No, Logan did not plan on staying there. It was the only entrance Logan knew of into the building’s wall tunnels. Logan would borrow what he needed from Virgil’s own borrowing supplies and set off where no human had gone before.

 Thus decided, Logan lifted the trapdoor and began to climb down.

 Virgil’s eyes widened as he realized what Logan was about to do. “Uh, Logan!” He took a few steps forward but stopped himself halfway. “Look, I know you want to be alone and stuff. I get it, but the walls-the walls aren’t the best place for a human. You don’t know the layout, it’s like a maze in there!” Virgil spoke, trying to convince Logan. He knew taking any sort of action wouldn’t be good at the moment

 Logan frowned. How dare Virgil act as though Logan was an incapable innocent when moments ago Virgil was dangling him over the roof like an active transgressor. Logan had already guessed the layout would be winding and difficult to navigate, but he also had the foresight of the human layout of the building on his side. If he kept in mind what the tunnels would appear as outside the walls, surely Logan could find his way around.

 So, in response to the human’s words, Logan stuck a single finger out at Virgil before pulling the trapdoor shut behind him.

 Virgil found himself confused by the gesture but didn’t have any time to think about it as Logan disappeared from his view.  _Shoot!_  Welp, so much for not taking any action.

 Virgil ran to where Logan had been, dropping to his knees harshly as he gripped the loose floorboard and pulled up, easily lifting it from the floor.

 Logan froze, watching the roof disappear from above and flood the entire room with light. Quickly abandoning the idea of looking for supplies, Logan took off into the closest borrower-sized doorway.

 Virgil tried to reach out his hand to grab Logan, but it was too late. Logan was gone, off into the walls.

 This wasn’t good.

 Putting down the board he still held off to the side, Virgil stood up and started to pace, hand running through his hair. This was all his fault, if he hadn’t been so overcome by the idea of revenge this wouldn’t have happened. And now Logan was in the walls, probably getting lost. He just hoped the shrunken human didn’t run into any spiders…or rats.

 He had to get him out of there. But how? It wasn’t like Virgil could go in…after him…

 Maybe he couldn’t, but Roman could!

 As quickly as he could, he ran off to Roman’s apartment.


	14. When Will You Learn?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WhEn wiLl yOu LeArn, thAt yOUr AcTIoNs haVE ConSeQuENceS?!

 “Is the ice helping?” Patton asked. Roman had been on the ice for at least ten minutes now.

 “Absolutely.” Roman gave a slight sigh of bliss. Now that the swelling was down, Roman found he could breathe normally again.

 “That’s good! I wish we could do more, but anything else is just gonna make things worse.” Patton said, sighing, after rereading the notes Roman had found.

 The sound of the front door slamming open made Patton jump turn his attention to outside the bathroom. It was only a moment before Virgil came into view. “Oh, Virgil!” Patton sighed with relief, before frowning in worry when he saw Virgil’s panicked state.

 “Virgil? What’s wrong?” Virgil looked from Patton to Roman.

 “I need Roman’s help.”

 “My help?” Roman sat up, pushing the ice pack to the side with a frown. What could possibly have Virgil so worried?

 “Yeah, I um…well, I sorta…lost Logan,” Virgil revealed, looking away sheepishly. Patton stared at him, not quite taking in his words.

 “You…lost him? H-How?” Patton asked, growing more and more worried himself. Virgil shrugged.

 “I…” Virgil glanced in Roman’s direction. “I may have went…too far.”

 “Oh, Virgil…” Roman sighed with disappointment, before getting concerned about another issue. “Wait, why were you anywhere  _near_ Logan? I specifically split you two apart!”

 “Thomas gave Logan to me and then had to head off to class…” Virgil explained, feeling even more guilt at the disappointed look Roman was giving him. But Virgil knew that would be nothing in comparison to the look he would soon receive from Patton.

 “Wait, Roman, why would you need to split them apart?” Patton asked, confused and getting a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Virgil took a deep breath, knowing he couldn’t keep this to himself. If he didn’t tell Patton, Roman would.

 “I…I wanted to get revenge on Logan, for everything he put me through.” Virgil finally said, looking down. Patton’s eyes went wide.

 “Virgil…Virgil, you  _know_  revenge is never the answer.” Patton said. “What did you do? You didn’t… _hurt_  him did you?”

 “No,  _no_ , I promised myself I wouldn’t go that far. But…I could have.” Virgil rubbed a hand down his face. “I might have…dangled him off the roof,” Virgil muttered.

 “ _What!?_ ” Patton yelled in utter shock.

 “WHAT!” Roman echoed, getting enraged. He stood up, glaring Virgil down. “What in Mother Teresa’s name were you  _thinking?!_ ”

 “I  _wasn’t_  thinking!” Virgil exclaimed, hands flying up in the air. “I was just so  _angry_ , I-I wanted Logan to feel how I felt, but he wasn’t reacting to  _anything_  I did-”

 “So you took him to the roof and threatened to kill him?” Patton was scarily calm, glaring at Virgil as he spoke. Virgil winced.

 “…Yeah.” Patton shook his head.

 “I’m very disappointed in you, Virgil.” Virgil winced again but nodded.

 “I know. I am too. Once he actually broke down, I felt so bad. I got what I had wanted…but turns out I never really wanted it.

 “Oh, good for you.” Roman rolled his eyes. He gave a few slow claps. “Took you long enough. It really took three separate occasions to get it through your thick skull that you should be a decent human being?”

 Virgil winced. “I’m sorry.” He muttered. Patton blinked, turning to Roman.

 “Wait,  _three_  times?” Virgil winced, guess he was spilling everything right now, huh?

 “I tried to get back at Logan earlier when you and Thomas went to get ice cream. And the other time…I, uh…” Virgil looked to Roman.

 “He went after me first.” Roman gestured to himself, and suddenly all the painful memories began to flood back to him. Roman was torn between feeling angry, fearful, and sad all at once.

 “He…well, actually most of these injuries are his fault.” It was painful, realizing the incident had hurt Roman  _so much_  and yet Virgil had come away from it so unaffected that the human felt comfortable torturing another borrower twice.

 “W-What?! But that’s-and- _Virgil_!” Patton turned to his friend, angrier than Virgil had ever seen him. “How  _could_  you.”

 “I know-” Patton cut him off.

 “No, you  _don’t_. We are borrowers Virgil, normally we’re the ones only a few inches tall. We know better than  _anyone_  what it’s like. What it’s like to feel helpless and weak in the grip of a human. Scared for our lives that they’re going to hurt or kill us. We  _know_  this. We’ve  _lived_  it. And I for one wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.” Patton took a deep sigh. “I know Logan hurt you. I  _know._  But that doesn’t justify a thing. No one deserves that. Not you, not I, not Roman or Logan.  _No one_.”

 Virgil could feel tears pricking the corners of his eyes. He knew Patton was right and he knew he deserved the lecture, but it was still hard to listen to. “I’m sorry.” Virgil practically whispered, not knowing what else to say.

 Roman looked at Virgil. It seemed the human had finally broken down and seen the error in his ways. About time, too. Roman wanted to stay mad at him, and he had every right to remain furious at Virgil as his ribs began to ache again. But Roman knew, as a former human, he himself was not innocent. And when Roman tried to improve, the thing that had hurt the most was the borrower’s continuous distrust.

 “…well, for what it’s worth,” Roman gave a slight shrug as his anger began to dissipate, “I forgive you.”

 Virgil blinked, looking at Roman. For a moment, he just stared before giving a small smile. “Thank you, Roman.”

 Patton looked between the two, before sighing. He was still very much disappointed in Virgil, but the anger was slowly leaving him as well. “So, when you said you lost Logan…?” Patton asked, wanting to focus on the main issue for now. He would forgive Virgil when he saw him actively trying to fix what he had done.

 “Oh, right! Ah, well, Logan ran off into the walls. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t listen.” Patton’s eyes widened at that.

 “Oh, that’s not good.” Logan could very well get lost and hurt in the maze that made up the inner walls. Patton turned to Roman. “Roman? Do you think you’re up for a little search and rescue?”

 “Ah, absolutely!” Roman felt like trash at the moment. But, what else could he say? No one else could go after Logan. So he put on a brave face, trying his best to act like a true princely hero as he stuck out his chest.

 “Great!” Patton turned back to Virgil. “Where should we start?” Patton asked.

 “Probably the same way Logan went through. Come on, we have to hurry. Who knows how far Logan’s gotten by now?” Virgil left the bathroom and Patton offered a hand to Roman.

 Roman quickly climbed on, knowing time was of the essence.


	15. Been There, Done Rat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Roman goes to rescue Logan, it seems the shrunken human isn't the only thing hiding in these walls...

 Logan panted, waiting in the darkness of the walls until he heard Virgil’s footsteps retreat. Good. The moment the human was gone, Logan dashed back into Virgil’s room. Logan wanted to be quick as the ceiling was still missing. The shrunken human felt very exposed like this.

 He began gathering supplies, unsure what would be the most useful. Logan slung what looked to be a bag of random tools over his back, then grabbed the…fish hook?… sitting beside it. Logan frowned, trying to figure out why this was necessary. He decided to bring it with him, cradled in his arms.

 Lastly, Logan looked around for any form of a light source. A small candle, a match,  _anything_. Logan wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of wandering around in the darkness. Luckily Logan found what he was looking for. In the corner of the room, a small keychain flashlight sat leaning against the wall. Logan dropped the fish hook in favor of carrying it. The device was a bit cumbersome and required both of his arms, but when it switched on Logan decided it was worth the effort.

 Figuring he had wasted enough time, Logan took his findings and headed back into the wall.

 “Okay, so, Logan went through here,” Virgil said, motioning toward the open part of the floor. Patton, of course, recognized it. “If we’re lucky, he hasn’t gotten too far yet.” Patton nodded, before kneeling down and letting Roman off his hand.

 “Alright Roman, you ready? If you need help just shout, we’ll be able to hear you.”

 “Ready as I’ll ever be.” Roman walked into the doorway, thankful that he had two humans on his side. Of course, both humans wouldn’t be able to actually do anything if Roman ran into trouble. He tried not to think about that.

 Logan sighed, turning another corner as he traversed the walls. At first, this was a bit relieving, but after a while it just became tedious. Is this really what borrowers did all day? The wooden beams lost their appeal only a little while into his journey.

 The shrunken human decided to take a break, sinking to the floor. What was he doing? What was his plan now? Logan didn’t know the first thing about borrowing. From what he inferred it took years of training to survive. Sure, Logan would be safe here for now. But he couldn’t stay here forever.

 Logan was reminded of this fact when he heard the familiar thumping of human footsteps above. This was followed by muffled voices, and a few minutes later Logan heard another join him in the walls.

 “Logan?” Roman called out, keeping his hand to the wall.

 Logan rolled his eyes. Of course, Virgil would send Roman in after him. After all, Roman had always taken Virgil’s side. Logan got up, grabbing his flashlight and heading back in Roman’s direction to meet him.

 “I’m right here, Roman.” Logan’s light temporarily blinded Roman, causing him to shield his eyes.

 “Where did you get that?” Roman asked as it was lowered to the ground between them.

 “Virgil’s room,” Logan explained. “I borrowed it. I figured that was appropriate.”

 “…oh, I get it.” Roman’s eyes widened in realization. “ _Borrowed_. Got it.”

 “Why are you here?” Logan asked, cutting straight to the point.

 “Why do you think I’m here?” Roman raised an eyebrow. “Everyone’s worried about you.”

 “They have no need to be,” Logan explained. “I’m not incompetent, I came prepared. I merely retreated here to be…alone for a while.”

 “Look, Logan, I get it.” Roman sighed. “Really, I do. We both had traumatic instances with the emo nightmare. But you still shouldn’t be here by yourself. It’s dangerous.”

 “Please.” Logan waved him off. “It’s not like I’m in any danger.”

 A slight scratching sound coming from behind Logan was the first sign that he had spoken too soon. A hissing sound was next, sending chills down both borrower’s backs. Roman paled, seeing a set of red eyes in the darkness behind Logan.

 “Logan,” Roman instructed quietly, not wanting to gain its attention. “We need to go.”

 Logan didn’t even glance behind himself. He began to bolt towards Roman, back in the direction of the entrance to the human world. Roman did the same, but with his limp leg, Logan quickly overtook him.

 Logan paused, turning back to see Roman had fallen behind. Even worse, with a screech, the creature had dashed towards them into the light. Now Logan could see it was a giant rat, easily taller than either borrower. It had mangled splotchy grey fur, jagged rodent teeth and long claws on all four of its humongous paws.

 “Keep going!” Roman yelled, dashing all hopes of stealth as he forced his injured leg to cooperate.

 _He’s not going to make it_. Logan realized. Thinking quickly, Logan flipped the bag on his back around so it was in the front and more easily accessible. Then he began digging through the contents, keeping pace with Roman to keep from leaving the other borrower behind.

 “What are you doing?” Roman screeched, feeling the rat hot on their tails.

 “Stalling,” Logan answered. He took out what appeared to be a misshapen piece of glass, turning and throwing it at the rat. The creature let out a loud hiss, pausing briefly to paw at the location where the object made contact.

 The borrowers rounded the corner, seeing the light up ahead. Spurred on by the promise of freedom, both picked up the pace. A scampering noise indicated the rat had recovered, and it dashed after them into the light of the human room.

 “Help!” Roman had no issue crying out once they were out in the open, his leg in agony.

 Patton and Virgil turned at Roman’s cry, only then hearing the familiar hissing sound. Springing into action, knowing how dangerous a rat was, they both grabbed a shrunken human each. Virgil scooping up Roman and Patton grabbing Logan. Holding both of them to their chests, they watched as the rat came into the light, hissed, and ran back into the walls. Virgil let out a sigh of relief. It was a good thing they had been here, or Logan could have gotten seriously hurt.

 “Thank you, Virgil.” Roman was still panting from the adrenaline of what had just happened. At one point he had felt those claws nearly scrape along his leg, but at just the right moment Logan had thrown that thing at the rat and slowed it down.

 Speaking of Logan…

 Logan froze, heart rapidly beating both from the exertion of running and from the realization of whose company he was in.

 “Of course!” Patton said, before turning to Virgil with a concerned frown. He could see Logan’s fear. He could  _feel_  Logan’s fear.

 Virgil bit his lip, also noticing the fear Logan was giving off. He carefully opened his hand, allowing Roman to be sat on his palm as he turned to look at Logan in Patton’s hands. “Logan? Are you okay?” He asked softly. Trying his best to be as non-threatening as possible.

 “I’m…fine,” Logan answered, referring to the incident with the rat. Mentally he was still a bit frayed, but with Patton right here as well Logan found Virgil’s presence less threatening. After all, Virgil only seemed to torture him when they were alone.

 Virgil hummed, looking to Patton for some help. Patton motioned for them both to stand and led them to the living room. Patton let Logan off on the coffee table, while Virgil did the same with Roman, backing up a few steps after.

 “Soooo…” Patton started, trying to break the silence but not actually knowing what to say.

 Thankfully, the silence didn’t last long. A rapid pounding began to sound on the front door, making them all jump.

 “Guys!” Thomas yelled from the other side. “I figured it out!”


	16. Those Notes Actually Meant Something?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas comes back with a magic scroll that should fix everything, buuuut there's a catch.

Patton and Virgil shared a glance before Patton ran to the door, opening it for Thomas to come in. “Thomas? What do you mean?” Virgil said as Thomas stepped inside.

 “Okay, so I was in class,” Thomas explained, looking a bit out of breath from running up the stairs. “And then I was going to head back here, but I got the strangest feeling like I had missed something in the library. So I stopped in there briefly, and out of nowhere this appeared!” Thomas held up what looked like a very old piece of parchment, almost like a scroll.

 “So you…stole it from the library?” Logan raised an eyebrow.

 “Well, yes,” Thomas admitted. “But I don’t think it’s actually a library artifact or anything. It has my name on it. And it talks about all of you too, I think. The writing’s a bit hard to decipher, almost as if it had two authors who were going back and forth on what exactly the note should say.”

 “Oh! We found notes too!” Patton exclaimed. “They didn’t have our names on them or have a lot written on them though. It was more like…cryptic notes?” Patton shrugged. “I had two, one that said,  _be gentle with the fragile and friendly with the meek_ , and the other said,  _observe in greater detail the ones that surround you._ ” The now human recalled. Virgil’s eyebrows furrowed, trying to remember if he had found one or not. Before suddenly remembering that he had.

 “Mine said  _revenge is never the answer_ ,” Virgil recalled, a little quieter. Man, had he wished he had listened to it.

 “I found one in Patton’s room,” Roman remembered, reciting it proudly. “ _True strength comes not from the individual, but from his friends_.”

 “And what did your note say, Logan?” Thomas turned to Logan expectantly.

 Logan was about to answer he had found no such note when he remembered the index card with the tiny print from the library. “ _Being small doesn’t mean being helpless_ ,” Logan repeated the words. Though he had dismissed them as a joke, the words had stuck with him all this time.

 “That’s perfect!” Thomas began to scan his own note again. “That all lines up with what’s written here. It seems that you four must have angered some witches or something, and this is the cure for switching it all back.”

 “You know how to switch us back?” Roman looked up at him eagerly. “Well go on, tell us!”

 “So, first you four had to each learn a lesson.” Thomas looked at it line by line. “And your notes seem to match up with those lessons. For example, Patton’s is something about learning to be gentle and understanding that it’s hard to resist the urge to pick up…smols. Whatever smols are. But then that whole lesson is crossed out and replaced with learning to see when your friends are struggling.”

 Patton nodded along. “I think…no, I know I’ve learned that lesson.” Patton smiled down at Roman. “Roman helped me out with it.” Patton explained.

 “I was the one struggling.” Roman grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

 “Virgil’s is something about not misusing power and that revenge is bad.” Thomas continued. “Although I’m not exactly sure what they meant by that…”

 Virgil looked away, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I do,” Virgil said quietly. “And lesson learned.” His gaze flickered from Roman to Logan, staying on Logan a little bit longer before turning his eyes back to the floor.

 “Took you long enough,” Roman muttered teasingly.

 Logan didn’t acknowledge Virgil at all, instead keeping his gaze locked on Thomas. “Did this strange document mention anything about me?”

 “Yup.” Thomas recited the line dealing with Logan’s lesson out loud. “ _Being small doesn’t mean being helpless_. Exactly the same as your note. I guess they thought you needed a direct approach.”

 “Well, that’s the most logical.” Logan scoffed. “This whole business is ridiculous to begin with, why does the solution need to be even more muddled with cryptic wordplay designed to hide the intent?”

 “Did you learn your lesson or not?” Roman deadpanned.

 Logan considered it for a moment. Often when he was this size he had felt helpless, especially with Virgil. But there were certainly a few moments when Logan had realized his stature only meant he had to be more resourceful in his actions. “…yes, I did.”

 “And of course, that leaves Roman.” Thomas frowned at it. “See, this is the one I’m confused about. The lesson part is all about learning that being minuscule is terrifying and that humans should be…well…  _feared_ , but the note you found doesn’t address that at all.”

 “…Maybe because he already learned that lesson before the notes showed up?” Virgil spoke up, not meeting anyone’s eyes.

 “Yeah, I’ve definitely been learning that from the moment I woke up.” Roman shuddered. “Being a borrower is  _hard_.” He looked to Patton. “I think maybe the note was just explaining how I should deal with all that fear. Instead of…bottling it all up inside, I had to allow myself to depend on others.”

 Patton nodded, remembering back to the conversation they had. He supposed the learning experience had gone both ways. He turned back to Thomas. “So, we all learned our lessons…does the note say anything else?”

 “Yup!” Thomas nodded. “According to this scroll thing, there is only one step left before the curse is lifted and you all transform back.”

 “Do we have to find an amulet?” Roman began guessing, ready for a full-on fantasy quest. “Rescue a damsel? Fight a dragon-witch?”

 Thomas shook his head, rolling up the paper in his hands. “All you guys have to do is become friends.”

 Logan blinked. “You’re kidding right?” Logan desperately hoped Thomas was kidding.

 “Or at least, make up.” Thomas was clearly not joking. “It talks about mending the bonds between each of you.”

 “Aw,  _great_.” Roman groaned, throwing his hands up in the air. “We’re stuck like this.”

 Logan couldn’t help but agree with him, already re-thinking the idea of living in the walls.

 Patton sent Roman a disapproving look. “Now Roman, have a  _little_  more faith here,” Patton said, though even he was wondering how that was going to happen.

 Virgil groaned, placing his head in his hands. “We are never getting back to normal.” He had messed up way too much for Logan to ever forgive him. Besides, he wasn’t even sure if  _he_  had forgiven Logan yet. How were the two of them supposed to become friends?

 “C’mon, guys!” Thomas looked around at the four disheartened figures before him. “I thought you guys were already friends.”

 Logan snorted. “Hardly.”

 “We…didn’t exactly leave things on the best of terms,” Roman admitted, thinking back to when he had originally released Virgil and Patton.

 “Hmm.” Thomas hummed, thinking. Clearly, there was some unresolved tension in this room. “Maybe it’s best if you guys talked things out and let each other know how you’re feeling.”

 Patton perked up. “Oh! That could work!” After all, it had helped with him and Roman. Who, he would say, was his friend at this point.

 Virgil on the other hand winced. “I’m not sure…” He hadn’t been the best when listening to Logan’s pleas and Logan would probably be the same way.

 “Well, I think it’s worth a shot,” Roman said, agreeing with Thomas.

 “An attempt could not do any harm.” Logan nodded. He still thought this whole idea of witches was preposterous, but perhaps the supernatural was the true explanation for the strange events that had occurred. At this point, Logan was out of other ideas.

 “That’s the spirit!” Thomas smiled. “I think since the spell is so focused on your individual relationships, it would be best to do this one-on-one.” Thomas turned to Virgil, noticing his hesitancy. “Virgil, how about you and Logan go first?”

 “NO!” Logan’s eyes widened as he quickly shot down this idea. Realizing how loud his outburst was, Logan cleared his throat, looking embarrassed. “Ah, no. I do not think that is necessary.”

 Virgil winced, but he understood. Patton stepped in. “I can start with Logan.” He volunteered.

 Logan nodded, finding this satisfactory.

 “Oh…okay.” Thomas was surprised by Logan’s response. “Well then how about you two go to your bedroom? Then Roman and Virgil can split off at the same time so we can get this friendship train a’ chugging along.”

 “Yeah, that sounds uh, good.” Roman tried to give a noncommittal shrug, even though he wasn’t particularly excited about talking to Virgil either. He turned to Virgil. “We could go to my apartment to give them some more space?”

 Virgil nodded. “Sounds good.” He walked over and offered a hand to Roman, Patton coming over and doing the same to Logan.

 Both borrowers climbed on to their respective hands.

 Patton waved to Virgil with his free hand before going into Logan’s room. Virgil cupped the hand holding Roman up against his chest, before heading towards the front door. He sent a small nod towards Thomas before heading up towards Roman’s apartment.


	17. Let's get FRIENDSHIPPED!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan and Patton talk about- ew, feelings.

 Patton looked around the room, eyes wide. He had originally planned to talk things out at Logan’s desk, but…it was kind of a mess. Papers scattered all over the floor and the desk was filled with just a bunch of stuff. He walked over to it, kicking away some papers. The desk was still the best place to talk though, so he moved things around in order to create a bit of space for them. He then set Logan on the desk and took a seat.

 “What happened in here?” He decided to ask first. Starting off the conversation with something that had little to do with their talk.

 “Well…” Logan cringed, looking around at the mess as he remembered. “This was all part of Virgil’s original tactics to scare me. Starting with the destruction of my property.” Logan sighed, going over and putting a hand on the beaker still standing there. “Then Virgil decided to…recreate some of the events from our first encounter.”

 Patton winced, remembering everything Virgil had told him. About everything Logan had done. He sighed. “Right, I guess that’s where we’ll start then.” He turned away from the mess and to Logan. “Why?”

 Logan tensed, nervous about where Patton was going with this. “Why what?”

 Patton looked at Logan sadly. “Why did you do those things? To Virgil.”

 “Oh.” Logan looked up at the markings on the beaker now above his head. “Back then, I hadn’t fully realized that Virgil was…well, a person,” Logan admitted. “I was looking at him like he was some sort of animal, an undiscovered creature. And the scientist in me let my curiosity overtake my morality when I began to realize the truth.”

 Patton nodded along slowly. “Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me.” Patton looked down. “That’s just how humans…see us, I guess.”

 Logan was conflicted. He wanted to comfort Patton, but he didn’t want to lie to him either.

 “Certainly most humans.” Logan finally agreed. “Which is definitely why there’s borrower rules about being seen. However, given time, I know my perspective on the matter changed. After all, I treated you more like an individual.”

 “That’s true,” Patton said. “That’s why I liked you better than Roman, at first. You seemed to actually listen to me and want to help me.”

 “Thank you, Patton.” Logan smiled up at Patton, a bit smug about being better than Roman.

 “But,” Patton started, having slightly dreaded this part. “After what happened…Even though I stuck by you and believed you deserved a second chance-and I still do-I feel… _betrayed_.” Patton rubbed at his arm but looked at Logan with questioning and sad eyes.

 “…right.” Logan looked away, not able to take Patton’s sad eyes. “I admit that I handled that situation…poorly.”

 Patton hummed in agreement. “I just want to know  _why_. You said you would explain everything when you got back, but after everything, you never got the chance. So, I want to know now,  _why_  did you trap us?” There wasn’t an ounce of anger in Patton’s tone, just a genuine want to know.

 “I couldn’t carry both of you in my pocket.” Logan started to explain himself. “I needed to get to class. I thought I was out of options-” Logan paused. He was doing what he always did, trying to explain his way around the issue. No, Logan had to come clean.

 “I…didn’t want you to leave,” Logan spoke honestly. “I didn’t want to share my discovery, but you both were still so interesting, and I didn’t want you to get hurt. Either by another human like Roman or Dee or simply by the elements themselves. I kept picturing different scenarios in which you would come to harm and I thought if I could just keep you  _contained_ I could keep all those problems contained as well. I could control what occurred and prevent you from hurting yourself when I was away.”

 Patton, unfortunately, did understand where Logan was coming from. But that still didn’t make it right. “Did you ever think that  _you_  were also hurting us? Not physically, but mentally? Emotionally? Do you know what being trapped does to a person?” Patton sighed, shaking his head. “I know you meant well, but…” Patton trailed off, looking off to the side.

 “No, I…I did.” Logan had indeed considered this, but the answer wasn’t pleasant. “I knew the kind of psychological damage that came with that sort of treatment. However, I- though I no longer agree with this- decided that the positive effects would outweigh the negative and that with time, you would…” Logan cringed. “…adjust.”

 Patton winced and suddenly his mind went back to that time in the cage. What if Roman hadn’t come? Would Logan have eventually realized on his own? Or would him and Virgil be trapped forever?

 He shook those thoughts away. That didn’t happen, it could no longer happen. There was really no use in thinking about the what ifs. “Logan, when-and I  _know_ it’s a when-we all turn back to normal…What are you going to do?”

 “I’m not sure.” Logan furrowed his eyebrows. “I plan to attend classes again, although the makeup work will surely be a hassle.”

 Patton nodded. “…What about us? Are you going to let us go if we decide we want to leave?” Patton thinks he knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it.

 “Patton, I’m not going to keep you here!” Logan was quick to answer. Although then Logan had to pause and think about it. If Patton decided to leave, forever, would Logan really be willing to let him go? He had grown…fond of Patton’s presence. Logan didn’t wish to say goodbye.

 But then Logan remembered all his terrifying experiences at this size. Perhaps borrowers simply weren’t meant to exist around humans. If Patton didn’t feel safe, if he truly wished to go…Logan could accept that. Patton deserved the right to choose for himself.

 “What about you, Patton?” Logan asked. “What are your…plans?”

 Patton blinked, thrown off for a moment. “Honestly? I don’t know. I mean…Roman and I did promise to give our friendship a chance once we turned back to normal…on the other hand, the rules are quite clear on leaving when getting the chance. Not to mention, Virgil might still want to leave despite all this.” He motioned between them, indicating the talks they were having. “And I can’t just not go with him if he decides that.” He couldn’t leave Virgil, no matter what.

 “Hang on a moment.” Logan felt himself getting a tad jealous. Despite the fact Virgil was a terrible person, Logan could at least understand the fact Patton had history with his former borrowing partner. Logan would have also understood if Patton had made a promise to Thomas when the two cheery individuals bonded over ice cream. However, Logan always thought that he and Patton had a deeper connection than the one with Patton and  _Roman_. After all, Patton had been terrified of him for almost the entire time Logan had known the borrower! “Since when did you make a promise with Roman, of all people?”

 “Oh! Uh…” Patton rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Well, when we were looking for clues together. We sort of had a…talk? Already.” Patton shrugged. “Roman asked if we were friends and I admitted that…we  _were_ , but only like this and that I was still scared of ‘human’ Roman. Then he admitted he was scared of me and well, long story short, we promised to try and stay friends when we switched back to normal.” Patton explained.

 “…I see.” Logan adjusted his glasses, taking a moment to clear his throat. “And are we…friends, as well?”

 Patton thought for a moment. “Do you want to be?”

 “I would find that…satisfactory,” Logan admitted shyly, never good with emotions.

 Patton giggled at Logan’s very Logan-y answer. “Then we’re friends!” Patton announced grinning wide. “But I’m gonna tell you the same thing I told Roman. Despite not having been as scared of you before, you might still have to be patient with me.”

 “That’s understandable.” Logan nodded. “However, if you instruct me whenever I make an error, I shall do my best to adapt to your needs.”

 “Deal!” Patton said, grinning wide.

 “Excellent.” Logan stepped forward. “In that case, I believe we are done here.”

 Patton bit his lip. “Actually, there is one more thing.” Patton sighed. “Look, I know what Virgil did and it was  _very_  wrong of him. But he  _does_  regret it…I just ask that you give him a chance, alright? He’s really sweet when, uh, not overcome by revenge.”

 “Well, of course, he regrets it,” Logan muttered, crossing his arms. “It forced him to be responsible for his actions and admit what he’d done to you. I know you and your pal Roman think he’s this sweet redeemable character, but what I see is an individual overcome by trauma and rage issues who needs to see a therapist.”

 Patton winced, but he saw Logan’s point. “Maybe, though that is kind of impossible as a borrower…Look, I don’t understand his need for revenge. How I see it,  _neither_  of you deserved what happened to you.” Patton sighed. “You  _both_ made mistakes and you  _both_  did things you regret. I just ask that you hear him out, alright? And I’ll be saying the same to him as well.”

 “…fine.” Logan agreed to Patton’s terms, mostly because he knew Patton wouldn’t let them return to the living room until he did. Not to mention, Logan was aware that he would have to converse with Virgil eventually if he wanted all of this to be over. Logan was not looking forward to that conversation.

 “Great!” Patton smiled and offered his hand. “ _Now_  we’re done. Let’s head back and tell Thomas!”


	18. You're my Favorite Thorn In My Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's that? Could it be? Are Roman and Virgil lowkey getting along?

 Virgil made his way to Roman’s apartment, heading into his room. Since no one else was in the home, he decided to leave the bedroom door open as he sat on the desk and let Roman off.

 Virgil was nervous. He knows he did a lot of wrong things. Went a little far with both Roman  _and_  Logan. And while Roman  _said_  he forgave him…

 “Soooo….” Virgil started but trailed off. How did they start this?

 “Soooo…” Roman bit his bottom lip, looking around at everything in the room.

 This was awkward. That much was clear. What were they supposed to do, just have an open discussion about their feelings until a blossoming friendship emerged?

 “…are we friends?” Roman asked, unsure as he decided to jump straight to the point. The faster he could get this over with, the better.

 Virgil blinked, having not expected the question. “Are we? I mean, I don’t know…” Virgil ran a hand through his hair. “Do you even  _want_ to be friends with me? After everything I did?” Because at this point, Virgil himself wouldn’t want to be his own friend.

 “Umm…” Roman went back to biting his lip, putting his hands behind his back as he rocked back and forth on his heels. “I mean, I’m  _supposed_  to, aren’t I? That’s the whole point of this thing.”

 Virgil groaned, putting his head in his hands. “We’re never getting back to normal.” He said and then, much quieter. “And it’s all my fault.”

 “Aw, come now Virgil.” Roman sighed. “This isn’t  _all_  your fault. At least part of the blame has to go to Logan and I for treating you so poorly from the beginning.”

 “…I guess you could say the only one who  _didn’t_  do anything wrong is Patton, huh?” Virgil said, lifting his head a little and sending Roman a small smile.

 “Heh, yeah.” Roman agreed. After all, though Patton had been a little negligent in handling Roman, he was still the sweetest lil’ puffball they had. “Guess that cinnamon roll just had to put up with the rest of us.”

 “Yeah.” Virgil chuckled, but soon found himself frowning again. “Why did this even happen to us? Patton and I would have been gone by now and everything would have gone back to the way it was.”

 “I think it might have been…destiny.” Roman gazed off into the distance, looking dramatic.

 “Destiny.” Virgil deadpanned. “Yeah, right. I’m more likely to believe Thomas’ theory of it being two witches than something like  _destiny_.” Virgil said, rolling his eyes.

 “I’m serious!” Roman insisted. “I’ve always been one to believe in the supernatural, and you’ve gotta admit there  _must_  be some sort of mystical magic at play here. How else could this possibly have happened? Clearly, we were just destined to become friends, and yet we screwed it up so terribly the first time that the universe is giving us another chance.”

 “Look, I can’t explain how we switched. I’ll admit there must have been some sort of magic in play here. But I just… _don’t_  believe in destiny. Never have. I-I  _can’t_.” Virgil sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. “It’s just, kind of depressing to think you were destined to be smaller than the rest of the world. Destined to have to survive and fear the beings you have to use  _to_  survive.” Virgil shook his head. “Thinking everything was just a coincidence helps my self-esteem a lot better.”

 “…oh, ah, right.” Roman turned a slight shade of pink in embarrassment, having not thought of it that way. It was easier to believe in fairy tales when you could picture yourself as the hero.

 “Do you…regret being a borrower, then?” Roman asked, realizing it would be quite easy for Virgil to just keep everything switched around. “Would you rather stay this size?”

 “…I’ll admit, some part of me always thought being a human would be so much easier. But…” Virgil bit his lip. “I’m  _good_  at being a borrower. Being human…well,  _clearly_ , I’m far from the best. Do I wish I didn’t have to fear humans? Or being caught? Yeah. But I was born a borrower and I honestly don’t feel like changing that.” Virgil shrugged. He did envy humans in the past, of course, but this whole experience especially taught him he is no good as a human.

 Roman was glad to hear it. It would have been a pain if Virgil decided to go against the general consensus that changing back was indeed the goal.

 “I think you’re an excellent borrower.” Roman praised.

 “Roman, I was caught twice.” Virgil deadpanned.

 “Well yeah, but that meant I got to see you!” Roman said enthusiastically.

 “That’s like, the exact  _opposite_  of what a borrower is supposed to do,” Virgil said, the ghost of a smile on his lips.

 “Okay fine, maybe you’re not a great ‘traditional’ borrower,” Roman emphasized his point with air quotes and a small eye roll. “But that doesn’t mean you’re not an excellent borrower. Maybe it just means you’re a borrower destined to befriend humans. Oh! See, what I did there?  _Destiny_.” Roman did a fist pump of victory. “Brought it full circle.”

 Virgil rolled his eyes fondly and couldn’t hold back a small chuckle at Roman being Roman. “Maybe.” Virgil conceited, for the time, being anyway.

 “Let’s say destiny  _is_  real. Does that mean you were destined to be a giant thorn in my side?” Virgil asked, smirking.

 “Ah!” Roman gasped, putting his hand to his chest as he pretended to be hurt. “How you wound me, Virgil! If anything you’re the tiny brooding needle pricking my finger.”

 Virgil found himself laughing out loud at that. “Hey, if I don’t, no one else will.” He said with a shrug, still smiling.

 His smile, though, quickly went away as he thought for a moment. He was actually kind of having…fun, right now. With Roman. Virgil actually  _laughed_  for the first time in what seemed like forever.

 Virgil found himself realizing that…he  _did_  want to be friends with Roman. Which, honestly surprised him. Whoever thought he’d want to be friends with a human?

 But, even though he wanted to be friends with Roman…did Roman want to be friends with him? His answer earlier told him no, not really. He was just doing this so they could get back to normal. And Virgil understood that. He was terrible after all. He abused his position as the human and left physical and mental scars in his wake. Why  _would_  Roman want to be friends with him?

 “…I’m sorry. I know I said it before and I know it doesn’t really mean anything, but I am so, so sorry.” Virgil said, looking down and fidgeting with his sleeves. He only just now realized he was still in Roman’s pajamas.

 “Virgil, I already forgave you.” Roman reminded him, frowning at Virgil’s change of demeanor. He had noticed Virgil actually opening up and having a good time, but now he was back to being his usual debbie downer self.

 “Why? I almost  _killed_  you, why would you forgive that?!” Virgil’s eyes widened as if just realizing something for the first time. “I almost  _killed_  you.” He repeated, this time in a whisper more for himself. “I almost  _killed Logan_.” Virgil stood up suddenly, backing away from the desk and Roman.

 “I-I shouldn’t even be  _near_  you, I-!” Virgil held his head in his hands, trying to stop the tears he could feel coming.

 “Virgil!” Roman ran closer to the edge of the desk as if trying to bridge the gap between them, despite knowing he was effectively trapped on the desk itself. The fall was certainly much farther than the tumble he had taken off the coffee table.

 “Virgil, stop it,” Roman spoke loudly, making sure he’d be heard. “You’re being ridiculous. How could I not forgive you? Look at you! You’re a mess! Am I really supposed to stand here and be all grouchy about the past when you’re clearly broken up over it? It’s not like it’s going to happen  _again_.” Virgil wouldn’t even get the chance, once they switched back.

 Virgil lifted his head, staring at Roman with wide tear filled eyes. “B-But it technically  _did_  happen again. After I did that to you, I went ahead and did it to Logan!” Virgil shook his head. And if he was being technical, Roman had already given him his second chance. And he had failed.

 “That’s why I can’t understand how you can just forgive me. I mean, I sure don’t!” He would never forgive himself for how he hurt the both of them.

 Roman huffed. He was beginning to see why the universe had made Virgil a borrower, as he was certainly far too stressed as a human.

 “Okay, so you screwed up once or twice.” Roman crossed his arms. “Big deal. Who hasn’t? The important thing to remember is that you  _didn’t_  kill us.” Roman also thought it beneficial there were no other humans-turned-borrower around for Virgil to terrorize, but he didn’t vocalize that opinion.

 “Virgil, clearly you’re not meant to be a human, so stop beating yourself up for being a bad one.” Roman took a few steps forward, standing almost at the edge now. “You need to move past this and remember you’re just a borrower trying his best.”

 Virgil nodded along to what Roman was saying, slowly putting his hands down. “R-Right. You’re-You’re right.” Maybe if he said it enough he would believe it.

 “…Even though I still don’t know how, thank you for forgiving me.” Virgil said, looking away. “I would understand if you really didn’t though.”

 “Virgiiiiiil…” Roman leaned his head back and let out a loud groan. “I get that you’ve got this whole angsty persona going here, but this whole self-deprecating thing is seriously bumming me out.” Roman pointed firmly to the desk chair in front of him. “Now get your butt over here and be my friend!”

 Virgil couldn’t help but snort at all that but tried his best cover it up with a cough. Sighing, he went over and sat back down. “Sorry, but I can’t really help the whole self-deprecation thing. I’ve always had it, just ask Patton.” Virgil shrugged, but he was wearing a small smile.

 “Let’s tone it back to just the usual depressive humor, m’kay?” Roman smirked. He understood that Virgil was just like this, but Roman also didn’t want his friend to keep beating himself up.

 Roman paused. Did he really just mentally address Virgil as his friend?

 “I mean…I was having fun joking back there with you.” Roman admitted, rubbing his arm slightly as he looked directly up at Virgil. Now that Virgil had sat back down, they were so close. Roman looked down to ease the pressure on his neck. “I’ve always had fun with you if I’m honest. This whole teasing thing. It’s…nice.”

 Virgil was silent for a moment. “I was too, having fun, I mean. It’s nice, cause like, Patton may be my best friend but I can’t tease him like this. He’s not that type of person. But it’s fun to tease someone you know won’t take it wrong and who will tease you right back.” Virgil admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. He found himself looking straight down at Roman, realizing how close they actually were.

 “I…never really had a best friend,” Roman confessed. “That’s why I was always so against you and Patton leaving. I…good lord, this makes me sound desperate, but,” Roman shrugged, “I didn’t want to be alone.”

 Virgil frowned. “But you’re…you. You’re outgoing and friendly, maybe a little overwhelming sometimes, but overall you seem like the perfect friend.” Virgil paused, realizing what he was saying. A blush settled on his cheeks. “I-I mean to other humans, not to me, of course.” He said, crossing his arms.

 “I  _know_!” Roman agreed, throwing his arms up dramatically. He began to pace back and forth, clearly passionate about this issue. “But everybody always has  _their_  best friend, and everybody else’s friends are their  _best_  friend and they probably all assume someone amazing as me already  _has_  a best friend or they’re too intimidated by my shimmering personality to  _ask_  or-”

 Roman paused, stopping his pacing to fully process what Virgil had said. He put his hands on his hips, glaring at Virgil. “Now wait just a moment, what do you mean  _not to you_?”

 Virgil stared at Roman, before smirking. “I mean, no offense or anything, but I can’t have a friend whose ego is bigger than me.”

 “That’s not fair.” Roman crossed his arms. “Now you’re just being ego-ist. Narcissists deserve borrower friends, too. Or at least this narcissist does.”

 “Oh really? Well don’t expect me to do anything but bring you down a few pegs, none of us can afford your ego growing any bigger.” Virgil chuckled, sitting back with his arms crossed in a relaxed position.

 “Once I’m back to my true self, I’ll have height and ego to spare.” Roman leaned forward, sticking his nose out and looking smug. “You want to cut me down to size? I’d like to see you try then.”

 Virgil laughed. “Oh, you have no  _idea_  what I can do. When we’re back to normal, you better sleep with one eye open, because I  _will_ find a way.” Virgil leaned in close. “And that is a promise.”

 “Bring it, storm cloud.” Roman didn’t even flinch as Virgil got closer, a fact Roman was quite proud of given his experiences as a borrower. Instead, Roman meaningfully stuck his pinkie out in Virgil’s direction.

 Virgil, confused, leaned back a little. “What are you doing?”

 “It’s a pinkie promise.” It took Roman a moment to remember Virgil wouldn’t know what that was. “We wrap our pinkie fingers around each other to make the promise unbreakable.”

 “Uh, okay?” Kind of weird, but he’d seen humans do weirder. “But uh,” he looked from his pinkie to Roman’s. “Not sure how that’s supposed to work with us.”

 “Hmm.” Roman hadn’t really thought of that. He trusted Virgil…but also Virgil had proven himself of being incapable of controlling his human strength, and Roman didn’t particularly want to break his pinkie. Roman winced at the thought.

 “Ah, how about we just touch them together?” Roman amended his idea.

 “I guess that works?” Virgil shrugged and lowered his hand, pinkie out, to Roman.

 “Aaand…there!” Roman tapped his finger to Virgil’s, looking satisfied. “It’s a pinkie promise. That means no take-backsies. It’s the rules.”

 Virgil hummed, taking his pinkie back and staring at it. “Humans are weird.”

 “Oh, absolutely.” Roman nodded in solidarity. “But you like me anyways.”

 “Unfortunately,” Virgil replied, smiling. “You ready to get going?” It wasn’t hard to see that the two had completed the goal they had come here to do.

 “Ready when you are…friendo?” Roman was still not used to friend-themed nicknames.

 “…I’d stick with your usual nicknames.” Virgil smiled, before offering his hand to Roman.

 “You got it, dark knight.” Roman clambered onto Virgil’s hand.


	19. Same Sized See Eye to Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Get it? They see eye to eye to because they're the same height! Oh also because they're getting along or something probably who knows.

 Virgil entered back into Logan’s apartment with Roman in hand, seeing Logan and Patton already in the living room. He smiled at Patton but avoided eye contact with Logan. Things might have gone well with Roman, but Logan was an entirely different story.

 He looked around the room. “Where’s Thomas?”

 “Oh, I’m in here!” Thomas popped in briefly from the kitchen. “I figured I’d make everyone dinner while you were busy working out your feelings.” He dried his hands on a small towel. “So, how’d it go?”

 “Wonderfully!” Roman said enthusiastically.

 “Satisfactory,” Logan said, less enthusiastically.

 “It was…good. Really good, I think.” Virgil said.

 “Amazing!” Patton exclaimed, even more enthusiastic than Roman.

 “See? I knew you could do it!” Thomas began looking between them. “So, who’s next?”

 “I want to talk to Virgil next,” Patton said, causing Virgil to worry. Virgil could guess where this was going.

 “I suppose I can talk to Logan, then.” Roman offered. 

 “Oh, you suppose?” Logan muttered to himself, rolling his eyes. Thankfully no one seemed to hear him.

 “Okay, well how about you two just talk out here?” Thomas offered, gesturing to the coffee table where Logan already stood. “Then Patton and Virgil, you two can take Logan’s bedroom.” 

 Virgil nodded. “Alright.” He put Roman on the coffee table before following Patton into the bedroom. 

 Virgil stood awkwardly in the middle of the bedroom as Patton shut the door behind him. His friend then came over to stand in front of him, crossing his arms. Virgil found himself receiving the disappointed look from before. “I’m really sorry Pat, I-”

 “I know Virgil.” Patton cut him off, dropping his hands to his sides and looking at Virgil sadly. “I know. I know  _you_  and I know you regret it, right?”

 Virgil nodded furiously. “Yes, I do,  _so_   _much_.” Virgil’s earlier self-deprecation and thoughts came back to him and tears welled up in his eyes. “I-I almost  _killed_ them, Pat.”

 “Oh kiddo.” Patton came forward and captured Virgil in a hug, holding him tight. “Shh, it’s alright. The important thing to remember is you  _didn’t_ kill anyone, okay?” Virgil sniffed against Patton’s shoulder.

 “You sound like Roman.” Virgil let out a watery chuckle. Patton, for his part, looked intrigued. 

 “Oh?” He had to assume Roman and Virgil were friends now, with how they responded to Thomas before, but he wanted to know what happened exactly. Virgil nodded.

 “Yeah, he…forgives me. Told me not to worry about it and that I’m only a bad human because I was never meant to be human.” Patton hummed, nodding.

 “Sounds right to me,” Patton said and pulled away a little to be able to see Virgil. “Look kiddo, we’re already friends, so this talk isn’t about that. And I forgive you for everything as well, but…” Patton sighed. “I’m sure you know.”

 “Logan.” Virgil sighed and Patton nodded.

 “Yeah. I already talked to him about you. And I asked him to at least hear you out about things. So I’m going to ask the same to you, okay? I know what Logan did to you, to us, was wrong. But Logan knows that now, and he’s apologized.”

 “I-I know,” Virgil said after a moment of hesitation. Patton looked at him.

 “Virgil, both of you are feeling some of the same things right now. I can tell. You both regret what you did but you’re not sure if you can forgive the other for what they’ve done.” Virgil’s eyes went wide, that’s exactly how he felt. Even though he regretted his actions and didn’t feel like Logan deserved them, he was still…upset at Logan for everything he did before.

 But Patton was right, as always. They were in the same boat here, and if he wanted Logan to forgive him, he needed to work on forgiving Logan. 

 “I’ll try, I promise,” Virgil said and Patton grinned.

 “Good. I’m proud of you kiddo.” They hugged again before pulling away fully this time. They stood there for a moment.

 “Should we…go back out now?” Virgil asked, motioning towards the door. Patton chuckled.

 “Something tells me they aren’t done yet. We should probably wait for Thomas to come to get us.” Virgil nodded, looking around the room. 

 “So, whatcha wanna do until then?” Patton thought for a moment, before snapping his fingers.

 “Oh! I never got to really tell you about my trip out with Thomas! It was great, okay, so, we get in his car, right? And then-” Virgil took a seat on the bed, listening to Patton speak with a smile on his face as they both waited to be called back.

***

 Thomas waved goodbye to the borrowers, heading back into the kitchen. The two looked at each other, not sure what to say.

 “Sooo…” Roman tried to start off the same way he had with Virgil, but Logan cut him off.

 “Don’t.” Logan shook his head, turning away.

 “Wha-  _don’t?!_ ” Roman looked offended, jogging over to where Logan stood so the nerd couldn’t ignore him. “Excuse me, did you just tell me to shut up? Did you forget the whole point of this?”

 “We’re neighbors, not friends,” Logan said, putting a hand on Roman and gently pushing him away to keep the prep from invading his personal bubble.

 “Yeah, but we have to become friends to appease the writer witches, remember?” Roman reminded him.

 “That whole idea was preposterous to begin with.” Logan pushed up his glasses. “While I had no problem strengthening my relationship with Patton, I see no reason to do the same for you or…Virgil.”

 “Okay, Virgil, I get.” Roman put his hands up in surrender, knowing Logan was still traumatized. “But why not me? What have I done?”

 “Oh, where do I begin.” Logan looked too gleeful for someone about to list off negative traits about his fellow human. “For starters, the very first interaction the two of us have ever had in person was you running into me and harming our respective borrowers, as well as myself, in the process.”

 “That was an accident-!” Roman tried to protest.

 “Ah ah ah, I wasn’t finished.” Logan waved his finger back and forth. “Even before I met you I disliked you. Frankly, you don’t even make a good neighbor. You’re rude with how loudly you blare your ‘tunes’ and disrespectful in keeping me awake late into the night. I haven’t had a good night’s rest since you moved in.”

 “You never even _tried_  to talk to me about this,” Roman argued.

 “I left many strongly worded letters in your post box,” Logan informed him. “But after a period of time, it became clear that receptacle was never checked.”

 “So what, you won’t be my friend because I forget to check my mail?” Roman crossed his arms. “Really?”

 “Hardly.” Logan was far from finished. “Let us fast forward to after that incident. I learn you traumatized Patton,-”

 “I already apologized to him for that.”

 “-break into my apartment, repeatedly insult me, and then insist that I’m a villain for trying to protect my friend.” Logan ignored Roman’s outburst.

 “I didn’t call you a villain for trying to ‘protect’ Patton.” Roman huffed, getting annoyed. “I called you a villain because you were trying to keep two people captive.  _Again_.”

 Logan rolled his eyes. “Then let’s fast forward to today, shall we? When you repeatedly took Virgil’s side despite the fact that he was actively trying to torture me.”

 “I wasn’t on Virgil’s side, I was on  _your_  side.” Roman insisted. “I came to rescue you. That’s why I climbed off this table to go after Virgil!”

 “Oh really?” Logan raised an eyebrow. “Then why did you insist I didn’t tell Patton? Why’d you insist I lie and hide the nature of my injuries? What possible benefit could that have for me?”

 “I was trying to keep everything civil,” Roman argued. “I wanted to keep the peace between everyone. I thought Patton deserved some happiness, and I thought Virgil deserved a chance to …change.”

 “Yes, and that worked out so well.” Logan sneered. “I almost  _died_  because of your foolish redemption thoughts. Next time, leave the thinking to those of us with a brain.”

 “Hey!” Roman knew Logan had every right to be angry at him, but that was just rude. “You weren’t innocent as a human, either.” 

 “ _I didn’t dangle anyone off a building_.” Logan hissed, looking extremely tense as he began to shake.

 “Okay, yes, fair enough.” Roman backed up a few steps, giving Logan space. “You didn’t do that. But I talked to Virgil, and he knows he screwed up. Big time.”

 “Stop saying that!” Logan pulled at his hair slightly, tears forming in his eyes. “Stop talking about him like he’s  _changed_  or or like he’s not just waiting in there to be alone with me again and- and-”

 “Logan!” Roman rushed over, rubbing at Logan’s shoulders comfortingly. A few tears began to fall from the nerd’s face, but Roman tactfully ignored them as he pulled Logan into a hug. Roman began rubbing circles into Logan’s back.

 “Logan,” Roman said firmly. “Virgil is  _not_  going to kill you. Patton and I will stay in the apartment, okay? Thomas is here, too. You have nothing to worry about.”

 “I-I know.” Logan winced, hearing a hiccup come out with his words. He hated appearing weak, but at least Roman wasn’t mocking him for it like Logan would have expected. “Logically, it makes…sense. Virgil won’t try anything with everyone around.”

 “…but?” Roman prompted. 

 “But…” Logan sighed, pulling away from the hug to take a seat on the wooden surface. He pulled his knees to his chest. “It’s just…difficult not to feel afraid of impossibilities at this size.”

 “I know what you mean.” Roman sat down beside him. “I have been scared soooo many times today. By Virgil, by Patton…and by a certain giant rat.”

 “That thing was atrocious.” Logan shuddered.

 “Yeah…” Roman paused, finding the timing right to ask a question he had been wondering ever since that incident. “Hey Logan, why did you save me from that thing, anyways?”

 “It was the right thing to do.” Logan shrugged.

 “Well, that doesn’t seem like a very ‘you’ answer.” Roman teased.

 “I haven’t been feeling very ‘me’ today,” Logan admitted. “Although I suppose that’s the problem, I’ve been feeling far too much today. It’s exhausting.”

 “Does that include feelings…for me?” Roman said hopefully. “Because, y’know,  _logically_ , I think saving someone from a giant rat is less of a neighborly thing and more of a…friendly thing?”

 Logan chuckled. “I suppose it…could be classified as such an act, yes.”

 “And does that mean we’re friends?” Roman leaned very close to Logan, eyes sparkling.

 “Ah, not quite.” Logan pushed him back. “I still have one last question for you.”

 “Go ahead, bestie.” Roman winked, elbowing him lightly. 

 “…Why do you hate me?” Logan asked, looking down at his lap.

 “Wait, what?” Roman frowned, leaning back slightly. “I’m trying to make you one of my best friends, why on earth would I hate you?”

 “Back when Virgil was trying to scare me,” Logan winced, “the first time, he asked you for one good reason to not hate me. And you…” Logan looked at his hands, clenching them into fists. “…you came up with  _nothing_.”

 “…oh.” Roman suddenly remembered that he did, in fact, say that.

 “All you could think to say was that I’m manipulative, selfish, and generally unpleasant to be around.” Logan gritted his teeth. “But now that some old piece of paper says we’ll be human again if we’re ‘best friends’, you’re suddenly acting all buddy-buddy.”

 “Logan…” Roman sighed. “I only said those things because I was trying to say what I thought would make Virgil listen. Anything good I said about you wouldn’t have been good enough for him, he’d just shoot it down.”

 “What, so you weren’t even willing to try?” Logan scoffed.

 “I pandered to my audience,” Roman admitted. “I talked about you in a way that I thought would make Virgil agree so that he’d see my point. I was trying to protect you.”

 “Well, you have a funny way of showing that.” Logan pointed out.

 “Okay, fair enough.” Roman conceded. “But you do have to admit that,  _before_ , you were all of those things.”

 “I was not ‘generally unpleasant to be around’!” Logan said in a huff. 

 “That one was harsh!” Roman put his hands up in defeat. “I’ll admit, not my best work. I could have phrased it better. But you were, in the beginning, cruel to both of our borrower friends.”

 “But you’ve  _changed_.” Roman continued. “You’re not those things anymore. I know we haven’t spent much time together, but we’ve had our share of good moments. And you’re clearly listening to others, being empathetic, and using your knowledge for good. You’ve made a terrific borrower.”

 “…I do try.” Logan adjusted his glasses. 

 “And you saved me.” Roman reminded him. “Despite the fact you thought I hated your guts, you saved me. You really did do it just because it was the right thing, didn’t you?”

 “Well, yes,” Logan said. “After all, I don’t lie.” 

 “Logan, I’m…I’m sorry.” Roman apologized. “I’m sorry I ever called you the bad guy. You’re a good person.”

 Logan looked over at him. “Really?”

 “Really.” Roman nodded. “You’re a good person, who deserves a decent sleep schedule. So I’m sorry about my music, too, and when everything switches back I promise to fix that.”

 “And I shall promise to approach you with my problems rather than allowing them to accumulate in your mailbox,” Logan promised.

 Roman stuck out his pinkie, wanting to make it official.

 “Really, Roman?” Logan raised an eyebrow. “We’re not twelve.”

 “C’mon, I want to make it official.” Roman gave a small whine. “Besides, I’ve kind of got a thing going right now.”

 “Fine.” Logan entwined his pinkie with Roman’s. 

 “Excellent!” Roman stood up, offering Logan a hand to help him stand. “Friends?”

 “Friends,” Logan confirmed, taking Roman’s offer. He wasn’t sure exactly what a friendship with Roman would look like, but Logan was at least willing to find out.


	20. The World's Most Awkward Dinner Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nobody is gonna say it but we all know what they're thinking.

 “Aw,” Thomas commented, walking in on them as Roman was still holding Logan’s hand. “Look at you two, being all friendly.” The two stepped away from each other, looking embarrassed.

 “Thomas,” Roman asked. “Is dinner almost ready? I’m starving.” It was at this moment Roman realized that, other than the ice cream earlier, he had not eaten a proper meal all day.

 “Yup!” Thomas nodded. “I just finished, I’ll go get the others and we can eat.” 

 “Oh, wonderful.” Roman watched Thomas go down the hall, pausing to knock on the bedroom door.

 “Patton? Virgil?” Thomas called out. “Food’s done.”

 Both Patton and Virgil turned to Thomas with a smile, Patton having just finished his story. They followed the human out to the living room. Stopping real quick to pick up a borrower. Roman with Virgil and Logan with Patton, of course. Before heading to the kitchen as letting them off on the table.

 “Oh! What are we having?” Patton asked Thomas as he sat down.

 “Well, I was going to make you all a delicious meal from scratch,” Thomas said with a smile, bringing plates to the table. “And then I remembered I can’t do that. So instead here’s the best I could manage.” Thomas began to set down plates of frozen pizza in front of each person. He had cut some ultra-tiny slices for Roman and Logan, which were served on teacup saucers.

 Virgil looked at it for a moment, trying to remember what the food in front of him was. “Oh, it’s pizza, right?” He’d seen plenty of humans having some, but it was one of those foods that were almost impossible to borrow, so he had never had it.

 Patton looked excited. “It looks so good! Thank you, Thomas!”

 “Aw, you’re welcome Pat!” Thomas sat down at the head of the table, digging into his own portion.

 Logan looked at his plate, trying to decide how to best go about this without losing his dignity. 

 Meanwhile, Roman seemed to have abandoned that train of thought a long time ago. He picked up the slice from the middle, taking a large bite and getting sauce all over his face. 

 Virgil was about to take a bite out of his pizza (after watching how Thomas did it) but had to stop to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. “Roman, what the heck?” He asked.

 Patton had already taken a bite, eyes wide with how good it was, when his attention was turned to Roman as well. He chuckled. 

 “Whaaaat?” Roman’s words were a bit muffled as his mouth was full. He chewed and swallowed. “I’m hungry!”

 “Clearly.” Logan gestured to Thomas. “I do believe we’ll need a napkin over here.” 

 Thomas hid his own smirk, placing a napkin between them.

 “Besides, I don’t see you doing any better.” Roman pointed out, wiping his mouth off before going in for another bite.

 Logan eyed his meal. “I don’t think I’ll be eating tonight.”

 “Aww, come on Logan! We haven’t eaten anything all day! Unless you want to count the ice cream, but Thomas told me it was more of a snack.” Patton said, shrugging. Virgil didn’t say anything, but he did glance in Logan’s direction.

 “Well, I don’t particularly want to make a fool of myself.” Logan glanced briefly at Roman. “Besides, if we truly are going to change back soon, surely I can just eat then.”

 Roman looked back and forth between Virgil and Logan, not so sure. “Uh…I think you should eat, Logan.” Roman advised. It would likely be a while before everything changed back.

 “Yeah…you should really eat. Besides, none of us will think that.” Patton assured, smiling at Logan gently. 

 Virgil took another bite of pizza, looking away. He wasn’t really surprised about Patton and Roman’s thoughts on how things might go…but he  _was_  surprised with Logan. Did he truly believe they could work things out?

 “I can…get you something else to eat?” Thomas offered, feeling like this might be his fault. He hadn’t really chosen a dinner plan with borrowers in mind.

 “That would be appreciated, Thomas.” Logan gave a small nod. Thomas went to the kitchen, returning with a few slices of cheese and lunch meat. 

 Logan began to rip some smaller pieces off, eating them. Roman tried to take some as well, but Logan swatted his hand away.

 Virgil finished his slice and sat back. He tried turning his gaze anywhere else, but he couldn’t help but look at Logan. Knowing what was coming next. And he was sure Logan was dreading it just as much as he was.

 Patton went to take another slice, noticing Virgil’s gaze. Patton bit his lip, even though he knew Virgil wouldn’t try anything now, he was still a  _little_  worried.

 The tension in the room was palpable. Even Thomas, who was oblivious to just how out of hand the situation had gotten, could feel it.

 Logan could feel Virgil’s eyes on him. Logan grimaced, finishing off his food but keeping his eyes locked down on his empty plate. Only now did Logan realize he should have eaten slower. Perhaps then he could have delayed the inevitable.

 Roman glanced between them, wincing. “Sooo….” Roman looked around at everyone, trying desperately to break the silence.

 “I’m done,” Virgil spoke, picking up his plate and standing. “Where should I put this?” He asked Thomas. 

 Patton frowned, while Virgil was no longer looking at Logan, the air was still tense. And kind of awkward.

 “Oh, I’ll just take it.” Thomas offered, wanting a chance to escape back into the kitchen. He began to gather up the other empty plates as well.

 Virgil handed his plate over but didn’t sit back down, instead stuffing his hands into his pockets as he watched Thomas take the plates to the sink. 

 “Virge, kiddo, maybe you should sit back down and rest for a bit-”

 “I just want to get this over with, okay?” He was sick and tired of how everyone was looking at him. “I mean, ugh…” He rubbed his face. Right, he couldn’t get angry, not again.

 “I just think we need to start now because it might…take us a while.”

 “Agreed,” Logan said, although his eyes were still looking down. Now that Thomas had removed the plate, Logan was just staring at the graining on the wooden table.

 “Okay, but first, let’s all just take a second to calm down.” Roman stood up, putting his hands out towards Virgil and Logan as he stood between them looking back and forth. As if he could keep them apart. “We don’t want to do anything we regret here.” … _again_.

 Roman did have a good point. Virgil took in a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. He thought back to what both Roman and Patton told him. 

 He opened his eyes and nodded. “Okay.” He simply said. 

 Patton smiled at him, knowing he was really trying. “Alright, now…how do we want to do this?” Patton asked. He was sure Logan didn’t want to be picked up by Virgil.

 “Ah…” Roman glanced at Logan, remembering his promise to stay nearby. “Well, Patton and I could just go to the bedroom and you guys stay here?”

 “I’ll go with you!” Thomas added on hastily, wanting to leave this awkward situation before he got roped in.

 “…Sounds good, I guess.” Virgil said and Patton grinned.

 “Great!” He offered his hand to Roman and as he got on, Patton leaned it close to Virgil. “Remember to hear him out, alright?” Virgil nodded and Patton gave him a more gentle smile before walking towards the bedroom with Roman in hand. 

 “Come on Thomas!”

 “Good luck, guys!” Thomas waved at them, shutting the bedroom door. 

 “…okay, so how long until we hear yelling?” Roman asked, raising an eyebrow.

 “If we’re lucky not at all,” Patton answered, setting Roman down on the desk. “But…probably in the next five minutes.”

 “And we’re all good here, right?” Roman raised an eyebrow, gesturing between himself and Patton.

 “Huh? Oh! Oh, yeah! Of course!” Patton paused for a moment. “Unless there’s anything  _you_  want to talk about?”

 “Just one thing,” Roman said, sticking out his pinkie finger.

 Patton tilted his head in confusion. “…What?”

 “A pinkie promise,” Roman explained. “You touch your pinky to mine, and it makes our friendship promise unbreakable.” Roman gave a small shrug. “I did it with Logan and Virgil, so I figured I’d complete the set.”

 “Oh!” Patton grinned. “Aww, that’s so cute! Humans come up with the best stuff!” He held out his pinkie. 

 Roman tapped his pinkie against it, smiling. 


	21. WHY CAN'T YOU BOYS PLAY NICE FOR TWO SECONDS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So it turns out, leaving Logan and Virgil alone in the same room may not have been the greatest plan.

 Logan looked at the bedroom door as it shut, hearing the resounding click. He sighed, trying not to get stressed over the reality that he was alone with Virgil. The others were in that room. If Logan called for them they would come.

 …if they could even hear him, that is.

 Virgil took in another deep breath, having no idea how to start this. And he thought Roman and his talk started out awkward? That was nothing in comparison to this. But he had to say  _something_ , had to get the ball rolling somehow.

 “I’m sorry.” He winced at his own words. Like Logan would forgive him with those words alone. Though, he supposed it was a good start, at least.

 Logan sighed, standing up. Best to get this over with as quickly as possible.

 “I forgive you,” Logan said, tersely putting his hand out towards Virgil for a handshake. 

 Virgil stared at Logan’s outstretched hand. “No, you don’t.” 

 “Yes, I do.” Logan frowned at him. “Now hurry up and accept my forgiveness so we can be done with this.”

 Virgil groaned, before taking a seat. “No. Look, Logan. I get it. I want this over with too. But in order for us to turn back to normal…well, I’m pretty sure this all has to be  _genuine_. We can’t just fake all this and expect whatever power who did this to us to believe it.”

 “Well, then that’s impossible.” Logan subconsciously took a few steps back, lowering his arm. “Because it’s quite literally impossible for me to truly forgive your actions in this form. You’ve already done me harm twice. This…” Logan put a hand on his chest, trying to find the words to describe his emotions. “…well,  _frightened_  sensation shall only retreat once you are no longer physically capable of harming me again. Although I suppose that was your goal, so congratulations. You’ve doomed us all.”

 Virgil winced, looking away for a moment. “…I know. And I…I regret it  _so_  much. If I had made one mistake you would be-!” Virgil stopped himself, before taking another deep breath. Panicking here would do nothing good.

 “But I know it’s hard for you to forgive me…because I still haven’t forgiven you yet. You’re feeling exactly how I felt when we were normal.”

 “ _Exactly_  how you felt?” Logan could have laughed. “And when exactly did I try to psychologically torture you? Or dangle you off a building? My own actions, while wrong in their own right, never came from the position of trying to cause you harm.”

 “And you think I  _knew_  that! Maybe after the whole thing with Dee,  _maybe_. But everything before that? I thought you were going to, I don’t know, dissect me or something! And you really never gave me a good enough reason to believe otherwise either.” Virgil grit his teeth. “And even after everything, when I knew you wouldn’t  _hurt_ me, the idea of being trapped in that cage forever  _still_  gives me a panic attack!”

 “How unfortunate.” Logan sneered. “As if you’re the only one who’s dealt with trauma. I never intended to trap you in that cage forever, but after truly getting to know you I think such a fate would be fitting.”

 “ _…What?_ ” Virgil had to take a step back and that. Sure, he felt bad and maybe he even deserved that as Logan stated. But Logan actually  _saying_  that?

 “Well, then, maybe I should have just let you fall,” Virgil said back, returning Logan’s sneer.

 Logan froze, paling when his own incident was brought up, still so fresh in his mind. “…no.” Logan protested weakly, his voice quieter than before.

 “Yeah, if you think I deserve to be in a cage then might as well do something that’s worth being in there for.” Virgil slowly reached out his hand towards Logan.

 “NO!” Logan yelped, backpedaling away from those fingers that mere hours ago had dangled him over certain death by a loose piece of fabric. In his haste Logan tripped, falling onto his butt as his heart rate skyrocketed.

 Virgil ignored Logan, grabbing him in his fist and bringing him up to eye-level. “Can’t put me back in the cage if you’re dead.”

 Logan felt chilled to the bone, staring into Virgil’s uncaring gaze. He gulped, beginning to tremble horribly. Logan should have known better than to trust Virgil to actually be better. It had only been a matter of time before Virgil showed his true nature, waiting until Logan was alone and vulnerable…but wait! He wasn’t alone, not completely.

 “PATTON!” Logan screamed as loud as his little lungs allowed. “THOMAS! ROMAN!”

 Patton whipped his head to the door. “Oh no.” He whispered as his eyes widened. “Logan!” With Roman in his hands, he ran out of the room only to see the sight of Virgil holding Logan in a fist.

 “Virgil! Put him down  _now!_ ” Patton demanded.

 Logan let out a few desperate sobs, feeling overwhelmed by emotion as the crowd came in.  _They had heard him_. That was all Logan could ask for.

 Thomas froze, eyes wide as he watched the scene before him. This…this wasn’t  _his_  Virgil. Virgil might tease, but Thomas had thought that was all just witty banter. Was something more afoot at play?

 Virgil froze as he heard the others come in and at Patton’s shout. He turned towards them, looking at Patton. His anger was slowly dwindling, replaced by an incoming sense of what he had just done. He winced.

 Patton came over, shifting Roman to one hand as he held out his free one for Logan. Silently, Virgil handed him over, not looking at any of them.

 Patton turned around and looked down at Logan with concern. “Oh Logan, are you okay? What happened?”

 Roman winced, looking at Logan’s disheveled state. “Oh no…Logan, are you alright?”

 “Are you hurt?” Thomas asked, peering over Patton’s shoulder as well. 

 “I…” Logan’s voice was raspier than he would have liked, and he felt quite raw from this experience. “I am not harmed, physically. You came in just prior to him enacting his threats.”

 “Threats?” Patton looked behind him at Virgil, who was looking down at the ground, gripping his arm.  _Oh, Virgil…_  Patton shook his head. “Maybe it was a bad idea to leave the two of you alone…”

 “What were you  _thinking?_ ” Roman yelled, trying to get a good look at Virgil though Patton blocked his way.

 “I…he said I deserved to be in that cage forever…” Virgil mumbled.

 “…well what were  _you_  thinking?” Roman turned to Logan exasperatedly. Antagonizing a human who already hated you was generally a good way to get yourself killed. Not that Roman thought Virgil was a  _killer_ , but… well, Roman had already been proven wrong about Virgil becoming a good person. 

 “He said he should have let me fall.” Logan looked up at Patton. “He wants me dead.”

 It was quiet for a moment.

 “ _What?!_ ” Thomas exclaimed, head rapidly turning to look between the two guilty parties. “Why would you say that? Why did  _any_ of this come up in a conversation about friendship?”

 “Well to be fair, wanting someone dead is a fairly large barrier on the road to friendship,” Roman commented darkly, looking solemn.

 Patton snapped his head towards Virgil at Logan’s words. “Virgil…how  _could_ you. Did you not listen to  _anything_  we talked about before?!” Patton yelled. Virgil continued to look down, not wanting to see all the kinds of disappointment on their faces.

 “I don’t…I don’t  _actually_  want him…dead.” Virgil finished lamely. At this point though, he doubted anyone would believe him.

 “Then  _why_  did you tell Logan that?!” Patton was more than disappointed at this point. No, he was straight-up  _upset_  with Virgil. Patton couldn’t understand Virgil’s actions at all.

 “I…I was angry…” He let his anger overtake him when Logan had said that. “I was really trying to make up but when Logan had said that I…” He trailed off, letting out a shaky sigh.

 “Okay, there seems to be a lot of tension here that I don’t fully understand.” Thomas pointed out. “Maybe we should all just…take a moment, calm down and come back to this.”

 “No!” Logan’s exclamation was angry, a passion filling his words that had been absent due to fear. “No, this is ridiculous! Magic is for fairytales. None of this makes any logical sense.”

 “But, the scroll-” Thomas’ argument was cut off.

 “ _Forget_  the scroll.” Logan insisted. “We’ve all just interpreted a random mystical hypothesis together because we are frightened of the concept of not having actual explanations. But the point stands that there are no witches dictating our lives. I say we head to bed. We all changed in our sleep last night, did we not? Perhaps it will happen again.”  _Or perhaps this is all just some horrible dream, and I will finally be able to wake up._

 “…I think that might be a good idea.” Patton agreed. “How should we…? I mean, if we  _do_  switch back you two really shouldn’t be in the walls.” Patton spoke to the two shrunken humans.

 “Indeed.” Logan murmured. “Not to mention the giant rat…”

 “I’m sorry, the giant what?” Thomas frowned, feeling like he missed something.

 “Perhaps it would be best if we all slept together, then?” Roman suggested, ignoring Thomas’ question. He glanced in Virgil’s direction. “…almost altogether. It’ll be like a slumber party.”

 “I can go prep your bed, Logan,” Thomas suggested, figuring they would need the room. He left, heading back down the hall.

 Patton nodded and turned back to the two shrunken humans. “Maybe you’re right Logan. Maybe we…will turn back if we just sleep.” At least, he hoped for all their sakes. 

 Virgil finally looked up at them, noticing none of them were paying any attention to him. He sighed, he deserved the cold shoulder in all honesty. He’d probably be sleeping on the couch tonight.

 “Um, guys?” Thomas returned, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. “There’s a bunch of papers all over, what should I do about them?”

 Logan tensed.

 “Ah…you know, maybe it’s best we sleep at my place,” Roman suggested tactfully.

 “Yeah, that’s probably for the best.” Patton started towards the door, paying little attention to Virgil. Virgil didn’t move, staying where he was. He knew he wasn’t welcome with them.

 He heard the door open and Patton’s footsteps growing quiet.

 “So…where are you gonna go?” Thomas asked quietly.

 Virgil blinked as he looked up, almost forgetting that Thomas was still here. He shrugged. “I’ll probably just…stay here. Sleep on the couch or something.” He mumbled.

 “I mean, no one’s using Logan’s bed.” Thomas pointed out. “You’re probably welcome to it.”

 Virgil let out a humorless chuckle. “ _I’m_  probably not welcome to it, actually.”

 “…oh, right.” Thomas bit his lip. “Well, I don’t have a second bed, but if you’re really fine with crashing on a sofa you can come to my place if you’d like.”

 Virgil paused. “…Really?” Truth be told, he didn’t really want to be alone right now. But that was hard when everyone seemed to hate him right now. Except maybe Thomas, it seemed like?

 “I don’t know everything that’s gone on between the two of you, but…well, I think you just said some things you didn’t really mean,” Thomas said determinedly. “And I think everyone deserves a second chance.”

 Virgil’s lip twitched upwards. “Thank you, Thomas.” He hoped Thomas would still feel that way tomorrow.

 “No problem.” Thomas smiled at him. “Come on, follow me.” He led the way downstairs into his own apartment. “Here’s the sofa, I’ve got some spare blankets in the closet. One sec, I’ll grab them.”

 Virgil nodded and sat down on the sofa. It wasn’t as soft as the bed he had woken up in that morning, but still better than his nest of old fabric.

 “Here you go.” Thomas handed the blankets over. He paused, looking at Virgil. “Do you…I mean, do you really think you’ll change back in the morning?”

 “I don’t know…I have a feeling, though, that this isn’t over quite yet.” Virgil said, taking the blankets from Thomas and starting to lay them over himself. At the very least, it couldn’t be as simple as just going back to bed.

 “Yeah, probably.” Thomas agreed. “Doesn’t hurt to try I guess though. And maybe we can figure out something in the morning when you’re  _not_  at each other’s throats.”

 “…Yeah.” He wasn’t going to tell Thomas that they still were going to have a lot of issues to deal with tomorrow. And he was sure they were all still going to be angry.

 “Anyways, I’m gonna head to bed too.” Thomas walked over to the light switch. “Need anything?”

 “No, I’m good.” Virgil paused for a moment. “Thanks again, Thomas.”

 “You’re welcome.” Thomas gave him a soft smile. He turned off the lights, heading down the hall to his own bed.

 Virgil settled down on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling. How did this all go so wrong? Why was he like this? None of this would have even happened if he had never been caught in the first place…

 But it was too late now. He had gone too far and now even his best friend probably hated him. A few tears escaped him. 

 It was a long time before he finally fell asleep.


	22. Well, That Didn't Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh goodie, now we get treated to the world's most awkward brunch. Boy howdy I love being part of this friend group! :D

Patton woke up slowly, blinking his eyes awake. The first thing he saw when was the ceiling but when he looked off to the side, he let out a long sigh. 

 He was still human-sized.

 And Roman and Logan, who were still asleep on the pillow next to him, were still borrower sized. It looked like Logan was wrong after all.

 He turned his gaze back to the ceiling, deciding to not wake the others up yet. His eyebrows pinched together as he thought about Virgil. Virgil was his best friend and he had always been a timid borrower at best. Extremely cautious, maybe a bit sassy but never too much with Patton. He was a kind soul though.

 But as a human…Virgil was dangerous to their once fellow borrowers. Sure, he could understand his anger but what he didn’t understand was his want for revenge. And Patton even thought they had finally gotten through to Virgil! But…apparently not. He glanced over at Logan.

 Poor Lo…Patton knew even Virgil wouldn’t kill someone, no matter how angry he was, but at Logan’s size and current state of mind…there was almost no doubt that Logan must have fully believed Virgil’s threats. And that was not okay. Nothing Virgil had done was okay but at this point, Patton was unsure of how to make everything better.

 All Patton knew was today was not going to be fun.

 Slowly, Roman began to join the waking world next. He groaned, feeling the pain of his injuries return full force now that he was conscious. Roman looked around, frowning when he saw he was still small. Well, it had been worth a shot. Although if that meant Logan and Virgil really  _did_ have to become friends…maybe Roman should get used to this size.

 “Up and at ‘em, Micro-Microsoft.” Roman shook Logan’s shoulder gently. “We’re still small.”

 Logan groaned into the pillow, the reaction likely a mixture of hearing he had to wake up and he was still a few inches tall.

 Patton turned over when he heard Roman’s voice, looking at him with a sad smile. “Morning, Ro. Morning, Lo.”

 “Morning.” Both borrowers returned the greeting with an almost deadpan expression.

 “So…I guess going to bed wasn’t the answer,” Patton said, biting his lip. 

 “I suppose not.” Logan sighed, sitting up. 

 “Perhaps we should regroup and refuel,” Roman suggested, trying to lighten the mood a little.

 “I think that’s a good idea. Come on, we’ll go get Thomas and have some breakfast.” Patton didn’t mention Virgil, of course, knowing he was currently a sore subject. He offered his hand to them.

 “Why Thomas?” Logan raised an eyebrow, helping Roman climb on as they both looked worse for wear.

 “Because he’s our friend?” Roman raised an eyebrow of his own.

 “…oh, right,” Logan said. “I had forgotten that is a friend thing to do.”

 Patton chuckled a bit and then carefully got out of bed, heading out and to where he knew Thomas’ apartment was at. Patton was just about to knock on the door when it opened. His eyes widened when he saw Virgil.

 Virgil stared back with equally wide eyes. He had decided to leave back to Logan’s apartment before they got there, knowing they would probably come here and eat with Thomas. But it looked like he was a little too late. “Uhh…” He was at a loss for what to say.

 “What are you doing in Thomas’ apartment?” Roman asked, his tone a bit snippy. He felt the way Logan tensed up next to him.

 “I…he offered to let me sleep on his couch,” Virgil answered quietly, only briefly glancing at Roman before turning away.

 “Well, that was um, nice of him.” Patton tried but he felt awkward. “Where is Thomas?”

 Virgil shrugged, taking a few steps back to allow Patton to enter. “Probably still in his room.”

 “I’m right here, actually.” Thomas’ voice came from behind Virgil, having snuck up on them. He leaned around Virgil, smiling at the trio. “Do you guys want to join us for breakfast?”

 Virgil jumped slightly but quickly composed himself. Patton blinked and then smiled. “Yeah! That sounds great!”

 “Awesome, come on in!” Thomas waved them all into the kitchen. “Ah…I haven’t really gone grocery shopping in a while, but I’m sure I can scrounge up some eggs.”

 “That is satisfactory.” Logan murmured quietly.

 “I’m sure whatever you make will be wonderful, Thomas.” Roman praised.

 “Are you aware of how many times he has set off the smoke alarm?” Logan reminded him.

 Virgil watched, not moving, as everyone headed into the kitchen. He  _wanted_  to follow them but…once again, he probably wasn’t welcome. He glanced back towards the front door, wondering if he should stick with his original plan and go back to Logan’s apartment while the rest of them ate. Just to give them a little peace before they were forced to talk to him again.

 Seeming to sense his guest’s hesitation, Thomas called over his shoulder. “Virgil, you coming?”

 Virgil met Thomas’ eyes before sighing and walking over to the kitchen. Patton was already at the table with Roman and Logan on top. He avoided eye contact with all of them as he went over to the corner and leaned against the counter.

 Patton looked at Virgil for a moment and then sighed as he looked away. Things were so tense, how did they even  _begin_  to fix this?

 “You know, you don’t have to keep inviting him, Thomas.” Roman reminded him, feeling the tension as well.

 “Okay, let’s lay some ground rules.” Thomas said, frowning at Roman as he pulled out the eggs. “My apartment is a safe zone. There will be no threats, no insults, and no shaming. Sound good?”

 “And here I thought my apartment was supposed to be a safe zone.” Logan pointed out. “And yet, look what occurred.”

 “Logan, what did I just say?” Thomas sighed, cracking some eggs into a pan.

 Virgil closed his eyes tight to stop any tears from falling before he pushed himself off the counter. “Maybe I should just go.” Virgil muttered, already walking towards the living room.

 Patton bit his lip. “Virgil, wait.” Virgil froze, waiting for Patton to continue. “I…” Patton didn’t know what to say and after another few beats of silence, Virgil sighed.

 “Right.” He mumbled, before continuing.

 Thomas pushed the eggs around in the pan a bit, contemplative. The only sound in the kitchen being the eggs frying. “So…do we want to talk about the scroll?”

 “No,” Logan answered immediately.

 “What about it? It isn’t like it’s actually helped us at all.” Virgil muttered, having paused for another second when Thomas said that.

 “Well, I think it’s important,” Patton spoke up. “Maybe if we look at it again, it will give us another way to fix everything?” Patton suggested but Virgil scoffed. 

 “Yeah, I highly doubt that.” He should just leave already.

 “The scroll is our best bet,” Roman argued. “We just have to keep doing as it says.”

 “It’s a scroll, it’s not like the message is going to change!” Logan threw his arms up in exasperation. “And there is no doubt in my mind that it requests an impossible outcome.”

 Virgil growled. “We all get it, Logan! I’m a monster! This is all my fault!” Virgil yelled before realizing he was letting his anger get the best of him again. He let out a deep sigh. “I’ll be in Logan’s apartment, in case you wanted to continue this whole avoiding me thing.” Virgil turned around and started walking out of the kitchen.

 “STOP!” There was a loud voice suddenly echoing through the apartment. Everyone froze, heads snapping to look in the direction of the front door as it suddenly burst off its hinges, lying on the living room floor. 

 Two girls stood each leaning on one side of the doorway, arms crossed and looking smug. Both girls were adorned with long flowing robes and pointy hats to match. The girl on the right wore a robe that was a beautiful ombre of violet to teal, with her hat sharing a similar hue. The girl on the left had a more brash pattern, her robe split down the middle with half being a bright red and the other a dark blue. Her hat was split in the same fashion but with the sides of the colors swapped. From both hats, several charms hung, a series of symbols whose meanings were not immediately transparent. 

 “Betcha didn’t see that one coming.” The girl in red and blue smirked.


	23. Witches get Stitches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! The witches are real, and they've arrived to make a few adjustments to the script- er, I mean scroll.

“Er, sorry about the door.” The girl in purple and teal said. “It was her idea.” She pointed to the other girl.

“I…whu…” Thomas dropped the spatula in his hands with wides eyes, the utensil clattering to the floor.

“I’m Mandy, this is Arc.” Mandy, the one in red and blue gestured to herself and then her companion with her thumb.

 Arc waved with a smile. “Hi!”

 Virgil simply stared at them, as everyone else was. “I-I’m sorry, what? How did you even…” He glanced down at the door.

 Arc grinned. “We’re witches!” She said as if that explained everything.

“And we’re here to make things _write_.” Mandy smirked, making a quill appear briefly in her hand. The others didn’t seem to catch her drift, so with a sigh Mandy made the quill disappear.

“What does that even mean?” Thomas looked confused.

“Aww, don’t  _read_  into it.” Arc teased, playfully elbowing Mandy. The two witches giggled at their own inside joke, not caring to explain their multi-dimensional, fourth wall-breaking humor.

“The witches are real.” Roman said breathlessly, torn between wonderment and terror. 

“That…that isn’t  _possible_ …” Logan sat there, trying to comprehend what was happening as he gaped like a fish. 

At the sound of their voices, Mandy let out a gasp, taking a step forward and grabbing Arc’s arm. She pointed at Patton’s hands. “Oh my goodness, look at them. They’re cuter than I imagined.”

 Patton held the two closer to himself as the two witches came closer. Looking at them both warily. Arc’s eyes widened. “Oh my gosh, you’re _right_.” She sent the two of them a smile. “Hello Roman, Logan. It’s nice to finally meet you two.” She paused. “Oh, and it’s great to meet you guys too!” She said, looking between Patton, Virgil and Thomas.

“How do you know who we are?” Logan asked warily.

“And why’d you curse us?” Roman got straight to the point.

“‘Curse’ is a strong word.” Mandy put her fingers in a steeple formation. “This is more like… a gift gone awry. Have any of you seen the movie  _‘Ella Enchanted’_? It’s about a girl who’s fairy godmother gives her the gift of obedience. Sounds like a great idea, but ends up backfiring. Repeatedly.”

 “In other words, we really were just trying to help you guys.” Arc finished and Virgil let out a humorless chuckle, bringing attention to himself. 

 “Yeah, well, fat load of good all _this_  did.” He waved towards all of them, indicating their sizes. “You know, none of this would have happened if you had just left us  _alone_.” Virgil growled through grit teeth. 

 Arc frowned. “We can still fix this.” She walked over to Thomas and held out her hand. “The scroll, if you could, please Thomas.”

“…I left it in my bedroom.” Thomas said, almost in a daze.

“Then go get it.” Mandy waved him off with an eye roll, watching the human trip over himself to get the scroll. “Honestly, you all keep leaving your props in the most bizarre places. You didn’t even put away the ice cream yesterday.”

Roman blinked. “We didn’t?” Not that it was his responsibility, being only a few inches tall, but…still. That was a lot of ice cream wasted.

“Here’s the scroll, your majesty.” Thomas panted, running back into the room to hand it to Arc.

 Arc laughed. “Arc is fine, Thomas, neither of us are royalty.” 

“Speak for yourself.” Mandy preened, looking pleased.

Arc ignored her. She looked down at the scroll moving it so Mandy could see it too. “Alright…I’m thinking we change that?” She pointed.

“Perfect.” Mandy pulled the quill out from thin air again, crossing out the text and scribbling something else down. “All set, the terms of your contract have been changed.”

“Changed  _how_ , exactly?” Logan pressed, always a stickler for details.

“All of you are no longer required to be friends.” Mandy explained, her quill disappearing. “But in exchange, you do have to live together.”

 Virgil blinked. “I’m…I’m sorry, what?”

 “Basically,” Arc continued. “You don’t have to be friends but you have to be civil and agree that  _you_ , Virgil, won’t move when you return to your original height.”

“Any questions?” Mandy asked, taking the scroll and shoving it back into a flustered Thomas’ hands.

“Well, actually-”

“Good!” Mandy cut Roman off. She raised her hand, and with a puff of smoke both witches were gone as quickly as they appeared.

 “What…What the hell was  _that_!” Virgil exclaimed. 

 “Virgil…” Patton warned at the language and his tone. Virgil shook his head, trying to calm himself down. But it wasn’t really working.

 “This is insane, how does this even help us?!”

“It gives an opportunity for redemption.” Roman huffed. “Now suck it up and make up already you two.”

 Virgil bit his lip, looking over at Logan, knowing Roman was talking about the two of them. Or, really, more specifically himself. He sighed. “You’re right…” He took a step closer to the human turned borrower and found himself unable to meet his eyes as he began to speak. “Logan…” He thought back to his previous conversations with both Roman and Patton. “I messed up.”

“Indeed.” Logan agreed.

“Logan.” Thomas gave a warning tone, still clutching the scroll.

Logan sighed. “I have committed many errors as well.”

 “I want to be clear that I really don’t  _want_  you dead.” Virgil said, closing his eyes for a moment. “I just…I let my anger get the best of me and I did things to you and-and you, Roman, that I’m not proud of. That I regret.”

 Patton smiled, his heart welling up inside his chest. “Aww, kiddo…” He was proud of him for trying to make things right.

Roman didn’t meet his eye.

“That is…welcoming to hear.” Logan admitted. “Though I hypothesized such a mindset, your actions at times made me suspect otherwise. It is at least of benefit to know that your actions were not  _intentionally_  fatal.”

“…but they were fatal.” Roman couldn’t help but mutter.

“I beg your pardon?” Logan turned to him.

“Virgil, you still-” Roman took a deep breath. “You could have  _killed_ Logan. Me.  _Us_. And I really do think that wasn’t your intention, but… it just kept happening. And I just want to know why I wasn’t enough to stop it.”

 Virgil’s eyes widened and he could already feel the tears start to roll down his cheeks. “Roman…I-” Virgil bit his lip as he looked down at the ground. “None of this is your fault Roman. And you shouldn’t blame yourself for not being able to stop me, I’m not your responsibility.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

 “I think, the truth is…I’m still scared.” Virgil admitted quietly.

 “Kiddo?” Patton asked but he already knew what Virgil meant.

 “I’m still scared and I forced it to turn into anger because I could finally do something about it.” Virgil added on, possibly even quieter this time.

“It’s a survival mechanism.” Logan’s eyes widened in realization. “A side effect of the …. Traumatic events.” Logan paused. “For which I am responsible.”

“I scared him too.” Roman admitted.

“You didn’t resort to cages.” Logan sighed, knowing he was fully responsible. “And you didn’t mistreat Virgil as I did.”

 Virgil finally looked up and met Logan’s eyes. “A large part of me is still scared that you’ll put me back in that cage.” Virgil closed his eyes. “Especially…after what I’ve done today.”

 Patton felt his eyes water at the sight of Virgil so scared. He knew all too well what Virgil was dealing with in terms of feelings.

“I understand your fears.” Logan admitted, knowing he still felt a similar fear that Virgil would reach out and grab him at any moment. “But Virgil, I can assure you that is not the case. I do not feel a need for revenge against you, at any size. I simply want safety and peace between us. I am sympathetic towards your plight and already intended to return that device at my earliest convenience, once I can again lift the contraption unassisted.”

 “I…want to believe you.” Virgil admitted but his heart still beat rapidly inside his chest. “It’s just hard.”

“I…think that’s what this is for.” Thomas spoke up, looking again at the scroll. “Perhaps that’s why you two are meant to agree to be roommates- so you can have time to understand each other.”

 “That makes sense.” Patton agreed, looking over Thomas’ shoulder to see the scroll too. “Remember guys, those witches changed the rules. You don’t have to be friends and make up right this minute. You just have to agree and promise you’ll live together.”

 “I…guess you do have a point.” Virgil admitted. Still, the thought of interacting with Logan at his normal size again was giving him anxiety already.

“Well, what do you say?” Roman looked between the two. “Can you two suck up your pride for once?”

Logan rolled his eyes at Roman’s comment, but took a step forward. “I am willing to coexist.” Logan declared, sticking out his hand. “I promise to be understanding to the best of my ability and provide a safe living environment.”

 Virgil hesitated before reaching out and gently taking Logan’s hand between his two fingers. “And-And I promise to give you a chance and to not move away.” 

 “Aww, this is so pure.” Patton whispered in glee.


	24. What Comes Next?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe things are going to be alright.

“...so now what?” Roman asked, glancing around. “It didn’t work. I’m still pocket sized.”

 

“Um, I think there’s a footnote here.” Thomas pointed to a tiny scribble in the margins. “It says… ‘ _Go to Bed_ ’.”

 

 

 “Sounds good to me. I’m already exhausted.” Virgil said, letting go of Logan’s hand. “But uh...where should we sleep?”

 

 Patton thought for a moment. “We could have a sleepover?” He suggested, a grin started to form at the idea.

 

 

“Oooh, that sounds like fun!” Roman clapped his hands excitedly.

 

“That still did not provide a location.” Logan spoke up.

 

“Well, we could do it here.” Thomas shrugged. “My apartment’s always open to you guys. Not that any of you asked before.”

 

 

 “Yeah!” Patton shouted with a grin.

 

 Virgil turned to Thomas. “Only if you’re okay with it, I don’t want to intrude...again.”

 

 

“It’s really no bother, I like helping my friends.” Thomas gave him a smile. “And my door is always open for a borrower in need after all this blows over.”

 

 

 Virgil gave Thomas a small smile. “Thanks.”

 

 “Oh! Virgil! Help me make a pillow fort!” Patton called him over, already gathering the pillow off the couch. Virgil laughed and went to go help him out.

 

 

“You have to stack them in a pyramid shape!” Roman cupped his hands to his mouth, yelling across the room. 

 

“I do believe this is their first attempt at constructing such a structure.” Logan mused.

 

“...maybe we should give them a hand, too.” Thomas chuckled, giving the shrunken humans a lift over to the pillow madness.

 

 “Uh, that would be appreciated.” Virgil said, holding a pillow and having no idea where to put it. Eventually though, with everyone’s help, they were able to complete the fort. And now they found themselves underneath it.

 “This is so  _ cool _ .” Patton gushed.

 

“Magnificent.” Roman gave a soft breath, twirling around. It was certainly a new experience to see a pillow fort actually resemble a fortress thanks to his diminished size.

 

 “It  _ is _ pretty cool.” Virgil commented. He had always seen humans make these but had never made one himself, if that hadn’t been obvious enough. He then sighed, looking down. “So...you guys really think this is going to work?”

 

 “Well, that’s what the scroll said. And we all made up, so it  _ should _ .” Patton answered.

 

“I was hesitant to believe a piece of parchment,” Logan admitted, settling down in the blanket nest that had been provided for him and Roman, “but ever since the appearance of those two specters I have more faith in the validity of its statements.”

 

 Virgil hummed. “I guess you have a point. I just...I hope it works.” He  _ really _ didn’t want to be human anymore.

 

 

“...I hope so too.” Roman said quietly, a bit of his own fears showing through. Giant pillow forts were only fun when they were temporary; Roman certainly didn’t want to be stuck like this. 

 

“I guess there’s only one way to find out.” Thomas called from across the room, his hand on the light switch. “Anyone need anything else before lights out?”

 

 

 “Nope.” Virgil said, lying his head down on a pillow.

 

 “I’m good!” Patton exclaimed with a nervous smile. He was worried about what morning would bring as well.

 

“All ready here.” Roman snuggled into the blanket, bracing himself.

 

Logan considered what awaited them in the future. On the one hand, there was the possibility of waking up at this size again, possibly stuck to live the rest of his life confined as a borrower. On the other hand, Logan could awaken in his human form, now trapped living with a borrower Virgil who would never forgive his actions and only serve as a reminder of his guilt. Logan wasn’t sure which scenario he preferred.

 

“I am content.” Logan lied, closing his eyes.

 

With a flick of Thomas’ wrist, the room was plunged into darkness, and now only the morning could tell what fate had in store.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand that's a wrap on Switched Perspective! Ending it a day early on AO3, shhh it'll be our little secret. ;) What did y'all think? Tell us in the comments below!
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> Also... if you thought this was over... I'd come check out the next Perspective story if I were you.


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